HUNTSVILLE, Ala.—The Barry Buccaneer fought off a tough bunch of Union (Tenn.) Bulldogs 74-65 to reach the finals of the NCAA Division II South Region Tournament at Spragins Hall on Sunday night.

The Bucs (25-6) outscored the Bulldogs (21-11) 6-2 over the final minute to seal the win. Anders Haas hit 4-for-4 from the free throw line and Tray Leonard had a huge steal and pass to Elvar Fridricksson for a layup.

In the early going, the Bulldogs grabbing s 14-10 lead in the first six minutes as Jordan Montgomery hit a pair of three-pointers. The Bucs finally regained the lead at 23-22 on a layup by Fridricksson at 9:03 and, after a Bulldog basket, Yunio Barrueta hit a short baseline jumper to give the Bucs a 25-24 lead that they would never relinquish.

Though the Bucs led for the final 28:26, the game was never in hand until the final minute. The Bulldogs used a couple of runs, 13-4 to start the second half and 9-0 from 7:41 to 5:17 that erased most of the Bucs' biggest lead of the game, 12 points.

But each time the Bulldogs made a run, the Bucs found a way to answer. After Union cut the lead to 47-46 at the 13:58 mark of the second half, the Bucs ran off 13-2 over the next six minutes to take that 60-48 lead. After the Bulldogs made it 60-57, the Bucs pushed the lead back to nine and held it there for the final.

"Obviously, we're overjoyed to be in this position," Barry head coach Butch Estes said. "All the sacrifices, hard work and dedication that all these guys have put in, it's great to have that rewarded with a great effort and big win over, what I might add, is a very well-coached team. We're very fortunate and glad to be moving on."

Barrueta led the Bucs with 19 points, while Fridricksson and Adrian Gonzalez had 13 and Haas added 12. Montgomery led the Bulldogs with 21 points. Serigne Mboup had 12 points and 11 rebounds, as the Bulldogs held a 39-36 edge on the boards. Roy Bullock and KC Goodwin added 11 points each.

Three-point shooting, as it was in the opening round, was again a key to the game, though neither team shot well from beyond the arc. After Montgomery's two early treys, the Bulldogs hit just 2-of-23 for 16 percent. Against Eckerd, Union shot 50 percent, 13-of-26. The Bucs were not much better, hitting just 6-of-20 after connecting on 16-of-31 in the first round. But the Bucs suffered less from the lack, making six more shots thanks to a 7-13 edge in turnovers. The Barry bench came up big again, outscoring the Bulldogs' bench 20-2.

Barrueta became the Buccaneers' all-time leading scorer with a steal and a layup with 3:39 left in the first half that put Barry up 33-26. He now has 1,734 points, breaking the mark of 1,723 set from 1984-89 by Ron Johnson. He also became the first player in school history to hit 100 three-point field goals in a season. Barrueta hit a triple with 12:50 remaining in the first half to reach the milestone. He hit another in the second half to give him 101 this season.

The Bucs will now play host Alabama-Huntsville in the Sweet 16 at 8:30 p.m. EST Tuesday. 

NCAA SOUTH REGION TOURNAMENT CENTRAL