Men's Basketball | 12/17/2003 7:17:00 PM

Box Score BOCA RATON, Fla. -- The Barry University men's basketball team narrowly escaped with a 49-48 win in the final seconds over the East Central Oklahoma Tigers earlier today at the Palm Beach Hoops Classic hosted by Lynn University.

Down 15-8 in the first half, Nick Long came in off the bench and hit two three-pointers to spark an 14-3 run that gave the Bucs a 22-18 lead with 3:46 remaining. However, the Tigers battled back taking a 24-22 lead on a Darren Randall three point play heading into the half.

The Buccaneers opened the second half with a 13-5 run taking a 35-29 lead at the 12:53 mark, but the Tigers continued to fight back and tied the game at 36 apiece on a free throw by Jason Wilkerson with 8:50 remaining in regulation. Finally, with 1:29 left in the game, the lead exchanged hands five times, but Barry's Nick Perez had the final word scoring the game winning lay-up with two seconds left.

Both Perez and Clifford Smith paced the Bucs with 12 points apiece. Perez also posted a career-high 16 rebounds in the win.

Wilkerson led the Tigers with 14 points, while Randall and Karlin House added 13 and 10 points respectively.

The Buccaneers return to action taking on Francis Marion at the Palm Beach Hoops Classic on Thursday, Dec. 18 at 5 pm.

Newspaper Box Score
East Central University vs Barry
12-17-03 5:00 at Boca Raton, Fla. (deHoernle Center)
At Boca Raton, Fla. (deHoernle Center)
BARRY 49, EAST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY 48
EAST CENTRAL UNIVERSITY (3-3)
WILKERSON, Jason 4-17 3-4 14; RANDALL, Darren 6-12 1-3 13; HOUSE, Karlin
4-11 0-0 10; SCHROEDER, Jason 2-13 0-0 6; AVILA, Juan 1-2 1-2 3; SMITH,
Larry 1-4 0-0 2; TUCKER, Wayne 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-60 5-9 48.
BARRY (5-2)
PEREZ, Nick 4-12 4-6 12; SMITH, Clifford 4-10 0-0 12; SAUNDERS, Ryan 2-4 4-4
9; LONG, Nick 2-3 0-0 6; EVANS, Andy 2-5 1-2 5; LEWIS, Rodney 1-4 0-0 3;
ALFONSO, Andres 0-5 2-2 2; JAUKOVIC, Luka 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 15-44 11-16 49.
East Central University....... 24 24 - 48
Barry......................... 22 27 - 49
3-point goals-East Central University 7-34 (WILKERSON, Jason 3-11; HOUSE,
Karlin 2-6; SCHROEDER, Jason 2-12; SMITH, Larry 0-3; RANDALL, Darren 0-2),
Barry 8-16 (SMITH, Clifford 4-5; LONG, Nick 2-3; SAUNDERS, Ryan 1-1; LEWIS,
Rodney 1-2; ALFONSO, Andres 0-4; PEREZ, Nick 0-1). Fouled out--East Central
University-None, Barry-LEWIS, Rodney. Rebounds-East Central University 38
(WILKERSON, Jason 9), Barry 40 (PEREZ, Nick 16). Assists-East Central
University 5 (TUCKER, Wayne 1; RANDALL, Darren 1; HOUSE, Karlin 1;
SCHROEDER, Jason 1; WILKERSON, Jason 1), Barry 7 (SAUNDERS, Ryan 3). Total
fouls-East Central University 15, Barry 11. A-107
Palm Beach Hoops Classic Game 2