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LAKELAND, Fla. – Barry University men's basketball team won its first NCAA Tournament game since 2010, extending the best season in school history.

The No. 12-ranked Buccaneers advanced to the NCAA Division II South Region semifinals with a 73-59 win over Union Saturday at Florida Southern. It is just the second NCAA Tournament victory ever for the Bucs, who improved to a school-best 25-5 this season. Second-seeded Barry will play sixth-seeded Lynn at 5 p.m. Sunday.

"I'm awfully proud for what these guys have accomplished," Bucs second-year coach Butch Estes said. "They've kind of rewritten the record book. But at the end of the day, we don't have any control over about what was, and we certainly don't have too much control over what's going to be. The only thing we can control right now is make sure we're ready to play tomorrow. We have to be so focused on tomorrow. 

"We like kind of lost our identity down the stretch (this season). We were doing a little bit too much one-on-one. We're a team that really enjoys sharing the ball, moving the ball. Usually it results in about three or four or five guys being in double figures. If you look at our stats, it's pretty balanced."

In this game, four players scored in double figures for the Buccaneers, who shot 32 of 63 from the field for 50.8 percent. The Bucs had 15 assists and 14 turnovers. Yunio Barrueta had his 14^th double-double of the season, scoring 16 points and matching his career-high with 16 rebounds. Jevoni Robinson scored a career-high 12 points, grabbed eight boards and had two blocks.

Barry built a 15-point lead when Adrian Gonzalez scored in transition with 4:25 to go in the first half to put the Bucs ahead, 32-17. Union (20-11) went on a 10-2 run over a 3:03 span to trim the deficit to seven before halftime.

Anders Haas scored seven of his 12 points in the first half on three of six shooting. He also had four assists and a steal with no turnovers.

"I like to try to get going early with some drives to the basket, maybe some passes to my teammates and maybe some good defense," Haas said. "But once you hit one or two and you're feeling it, it kind of feels like the rim gets bigger."

Corieon Pearson scored 3:35 into the second half as the Bulldogs cut the gap to five. Robinson scored in the paint, and Gonzalez sank a free throw to push Barry back on top by 10. But the Bulldogs, who shot 24 of 60 from the floor, whittled it down to five again at the 10:40 mark when Ashanti Day sank the first of two free throws. Savad Garner scored two straight baskets, the latter coming at the 5:45 mark, as Barry bumped its lead out to 13.

The Bucs used an 8-0 run in 45 seconds, cashing in on Juan Ferrales' triple in transition to extend the lead to 19 – Barry's largest of the game with 4:31 to go. Union never got closer than 16 the rest of the way.

Barry held the Bulldogs, who ranked ninth in the nation in 3-point shooting, to five of 24 from long distance. Roy Bullock had 16 points and five assists on 7-for-9 shooting. Marterrace Brock had 15 points and five steals, and Felipe Rocha had 10 points.

Ferrales scored 11 points. Barrueta was seven of 14 from the floor. He also had three assists, a block and a steal. Garner had eight points and five boards, Gonzalez scored seven points, and Arie Williams had five assists, drawing the start for Deric Hill.

Barry was just six of 19 from 3-point range. The Bucs outrebounded the Bulldogs, 44-29. Barry outscored Union, 44-34, in the paint. Robinson, who played at North Carolina State before transferring to Barry to finish his career, scored in double figures for just the third time this year. His pulled down eight rebounds for the 11^th time this season.

"If we can get an inside consistent game to complement our outside game, that makes us hard to defend," Estes said. "The thing I like about Jevoni, every time he scores that's great, but we know that when he's in the game we're going to get good solid defense, a Division II human eraser. He alters a lot of shots, you watch."

Robinson's two blocks raised his season total to 41 this year, which is tied for sixth in school single-season history. He's the first player since Jermaine Edwards in 2011-12 to record over 40 blocks in a season.

"Every time I get chance to play in the NCAA, I see it as an honor just to be at this great of a stage," Robinson said. "It's just a pleasure to be a part of such a great team."
  
The last time Barry advance to the Round of 32 was in Russellville, Ark., in 2010 when they lost to fellow Sunshine State Conference member Rollins. This year they'll get another SSC member in the region semis when they meet up with Lynn for the third time this season.

"We're just going to try to keep winning," Haas said, "and see how far we can take it."