Men's Basketball | 1/9/2002 10:04:00 PM

Box Score LAKELAND, Fla. -- The Barry University men's basketball team opened up their conference season on a good note knocking off the #20 Florida Southern Moccasins 71-60.

It was the Buccaneers who jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, but with 15:56 to go, the Mocs ignited a 23-5 run to take the lead 25-15. The Bucs began chipping away at the lead and were only down 36-32 at the half.

In the second half, the Buccaneers continued chipping away and tied the game 45-45 with 12:18 remaining. The Bucs then went on to dominate the rest of the half to come away with a 71-60 victory.

Curtis Tonge's game-high 22 points led the Buccaneer winning efforts while also snagging 7 boards. Luis Vazquez-Bello followed with 16 points and a team-high 9 rebounds while Yorell Calderon added 13 points.

Derek Heard led the Mocs with 13 points while the Buccaneer defense held their top player, Christopher Humbert, in check with only 11 points and 12 boards. Matt Story added 10 points.

It was a great homecoming for Florida Southern Alum and current Barry head coach Cesar Odio leading the Bucs to victory over the Mocs. Odio who once played for Florida Southern's 1981 National Championship team, earned only his fourth victory against his alma mater in his eight-year stint at Barry. The last time was during the 1999 campaign.

The Buccaneers improved to 8-4 overall and 1-0 in the Sunshine State Conference, while the Mocs fell to 9-4 overall and 0-1 in the SSC. The Bucs will return to action on Saturday, January 12 taking on Tampa at 4:00 p.m.