Men's Basketball | 12/6/2003 11:48:00 PM

Box Score BOCA RATON, Fla.—Barry's Clifford Smith scored a game-high 23 points, but it wasn't enough as the Bucs fell to NCAA Division I Florida Atlantic Saturday night 76-73.

Pierre Tucker and Mike Bell each scored 22 points to lead the Owls (2-2)

Barry jumped out on top, leading 6-2 after just 2:34. But the Owls bounced back to knot the game at 6-6 and went on to take a 14-8 lead with 13:09 remaining.

Barry surged back to lead by as many as eight points in the first half, 31-23, with 4:37 remaining. That's when the Owls responded with a 13-3 run to take a 36-34 lead. Bell and Tucker combined for ten points during that stretch, each with five. The game was knotted at 41-41 at the half.

The second half had six ties and four lead changes before Barry's Andrew Evans knotted the game at 65-65 with 5:35 left. The Owls scored the next seven points to take a 72-65 lead and hit free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

"We didn't just show up," Barry head coach Cesar Odio said. "We really felt like we could win this game. They (FAU) have some great athletes. We won't see a team like this the rest of the season."

FAU forced Barry into 26 turnovers for the game. Both teams shot well from the floor with FAU nailing 50.9 percent of its shots and Barry connecting on 52 percent of its attempts.

For FAU, Earnest Crumbley joined Bell and Tucker in double digits with 14. In addition to Smith, Nick Ellingsworth-Perez added 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Rodney Lewis had 11 points and Evans added 10.

The Bucs are off for exams, but return to the court in a non-conference matchup at Saint Leo on Saturday, Dec. 13.


Newspaper Box Score
Barry vs Florida Atlantic
12/06/03 7:00 pm at Boca Raton, Fla.
At Boca Raton, Fla.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC 76, BARRY 73
BARRY (3-2)
SMITH, Clifford 8-14 6-8 23; PEREZ, Nick 10-15 2-4 22; LEWIS, Rodney 4-9 2-2
11; EVANS, Andy 2-4 6-8 10; SAUNDERS, Ryan 2-3 0-0 5; ALFONSO, Andres 0-2
2-2 2; JOHNSON, Casey 0-2 0-0 0; JAUKOVIC, Luka 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-50
18-24 73.
FLORIDA ATLANTIC (2-2)
TUCKER, Pierre 9-15 1-2 22; BELL, Mike 10-16 1-4 22; CRUMBLEY, Earnest 4-8
3-4 14; WATSON, Kahleaf 3-5 2-4 8; HAMILTON, Jeff 2-2 0-0 4; WILLIAMS,
Robert 0-1 3-4 3; OKAFOR, Iyke 1-1 1-1 3; COWANS, Jeff 0-8 0-0 0; BISHOP,
Jimmy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-57 11-19 76.
Barry......................... 41 32 - 73
Florida Atlantic.............. 41 35 - 76
3-point goals-Barry 3-10 (LEWIS, Rodney 1-4; SAUNDERS, Ryan 1-1; SMITH,
Clifford 1-3; ALFONSO, Andres 0-1; PEREZ, Nick 0-1), Florida Atlantic 7-22
(TUCKER, Pierre 3-6; CRUMBLEY, Earnest 3-6; BELL, Mike 1-6; COWANS, Jeff
0-3; BISHOP, Jimmy 0-1). Fouled out--Barry-None, Florida Atlantic-None.
Rebounds-Barry 34 (PEREZ, Nick 11), Florida Atlantic 28 (COWANS, Jeff 6).
Assists-Barry 19 (SAUNDERS, Ryan 6), Florida Atlantic 19 (WATSON, Kahleaf
7). Total fouls-Barry 20, Florida Atlantic 21. A-237