Men's Basketball | 12/29/2001 3:59:00 PM

Box Score MIAMI SHORES, Fla.--The Barry men's basketball team shook off a 13-day layoff to crown the St. Edward's Hilltoppers 77-67 in a see-saw game at the Health & Sports Center Saturday afternoon.

The Hilltoppers jumped out to a 20-5 lead with 12:48 left in the first half, thanks to some hot shooting by Bradley Burdick and Cyrus Ramsey who each hit a pair of three-pointers in the run.

But the Bucs stormed back with a run of their own to tie the game at 25-25 at the 5:58 mark. Curtis Tonge led the charge with 10 points. The Hilltoppers went on to score the last five points of the half to take a 37-32 lead into the locker room.

Starting the second half, it appeared that the Hilltoppers were prepared to run away with it, scoring the first 10 points of the half and holding a 51-36 led with 13:48 left to play. But the Bucs would not be denied, running off 15 straight points to tie the game at 51-51 with 8:26 remaining.

Barry controlled the tempo the rest of the way to pull away for the 77-67 win.

Tonge led the Bucs with 32 points, hitting 13 of 16 from the free throw line. Luis Vazquez-Bello added 14 points and Yorell Calderon had 13. Burdick led all scorers with 34, while Lawrence Ramsey had 14 for the Hilltoppers.

The Bucs improve to 5-4, while St. Edwards falls to 3-10. Barry is back in action tomorrow at 6:00 pm against New Jersey Tech.