MIAMI SHORES, Fla.—The Barry Buccaneers are the only programs to host both men’s and women’s quarterfinal games on Wednesday, Mar. 2 in the Sunshine State Conference Basketball Tournament, after the men claimed the top seed and the women earned the fourth seed on Saturday.
The men (21-5, 12-4 SSC), who shared the conference regular season title with Eckerd and Rollins, beat Eckerd on Saturday to create the tie and earned the first seed by beating the Saint Leo Lions twice during the regular season, while the Tritons and Tars both split with them. The Bucs will host last year’s regular season and tournament champions Florida Southern at 7:30 p.m.
Barry’s men’s team is 15-24 all-time in the SSC Tournament. The Bucs are in search of their first league postseason tournament title. Florida Southern is 68-15 all-time in the SSC Tournament, and have won 23 postseason titles.
Barry split with Florida Southern (10-18, 5-11) during the regular season, each winning on its own home floor. Dylan Travis leads the Moccasins in scoring at 22 points per game, which ranks second in the league behind Barry’s Yunio Barrueta (24.8). FSC’s Dominique Williams is averaging 19.4 per game. Sheldon Zablotny (13.6) and Michael Volovic (12.6) are also double figure scorers for the Mocs.
The Buccaneers lead the nation in assists per game (21.6) and have the fourth highest-scoring offense in the country at 93.7 points per game.
Barry’s Tray Leonard has 11 double-doubles, and ranks fourth in the SSC in rebounding (9.1). Point guard Elvar Fridriksson leads the nation in assists per game (8.4). He needs four more assists to break the school record of 221 set by Deric Hill last season.
The Bucs are hosting an SSC Tournament game for the first time since 2005.
The women (19-8, 10-6 SSC) knocked off Eckerd on Saturday to finish 10-6 in the conference, one game ahead of Tampa (16-12, 9-7 SSC). They will host the Spartans, who won both regular season meetings at 5:30 pm.
The women are led by seniors Amra Elezovic, Ines Kerin, Jackie Perez and Irene Sanchez. Elezovic leads the conference in scoring at 17.2 points per game and in free throw shooting at 89.7 percent. She also leads the Bucs in rebounding at 6.0 boards per game and is shooting 43.7 percent from three-point range.
Kerin and Perez form one of the top backcourts in the conference. Kerin scores 12.7 points per game and leads the league in three-point shooting at 48.3 percent. She’s 10th in steals and fifth in assist/turnover ratio (1.6). Perez kicks in 11.1 points per game and leads the team in assists at 3.5 per game. She is first in the league in assist/turnover ratio (2.1). The pair ranks first and second in made three-pointers, separated by just one made basket.
Sanchez is one of the top all-around players in the league. She averages 10.1 points per game, 5.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.
Juliana Cavallaro and Elena de Alfredo lead the Spartans. Cavallaro is fourth in the conference at 14.3 points per game, adding 5.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game, while de Alfredo chips in 11.9 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.9 assists.
Women's Basketball Tournament History