FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The 12th-ranked Barry Buccaneers clawed out an 82-81 win over the Drury Panthers at the 2018 Cruzin' Classic at the Fort Lauderdale Civic Center on Sunday.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: #12 Barry 82, Drury 81
Records: Barry (7-1), Drury (6-5)
All-Time Series: Barry leads 1-0

SUMMARY:

• FIRST HALF: Barry trailed 11-10 with 11:57 left in the half, but used a 23-11 run over the next 6:37 to go up 38-28 on a pair of free throws by Marco Tomic. Tomic then keyed an 11-5 run over the last 3:16 of the half to put the Bucs up 49-35 at the break. Daniel Mortensen was 6-of-10 from three-point range in the period, scoring 21 points.
• SECOND HALF: In the second half, The Bucs out-scored the Panthers 21-13 over the first 6:33 to build their biggest lead of the game, 70-48, on a three-point play by Johannes Dolven with 13:11 left. But the Bucs went cold from the field and Panthers clawed all the way back to take a 77-76 lead when Allen Billinger capped a 21-2 run with a layup with 4:43 left. Mortensen hit another three-pointer to give the Bucs back a two point lead, but Billinger tied it again at 79-79. A pair from the stripe by David Moya put the Bucs up 81-79, but Conley Garrison knotted it again with a pair of his own with 0:12 seconds left. Marco Tomic drew a foul from Drury's Issac Johnson with 2.7 seconds and hit one of two. The Panthers pushed the ball up the court but Tylan Birts tipped the long pass away and Garrison was unable to get a desperation heave at the buzzer.

NOTEWORTHY:

• Mortensen tied the team season high with 26 points, though only five after halftime. Tomic added 19 points and Evan Walshe had 11.
• Billinger led Drury with a game-high 28 points, 20 in the second half alone. Garrison had 24 and Andrew Ballock added 15.
• The Bucs out-rebounded the Panthers 41-30, as Tomic had eight and Walshe added seven.
• The Panthers only turned the ball over four times, to 14 for the Bucs.
• Barry hit 9-of-17 from three-point range in the first half, but just 3-of-11 in the second.

ON THE HORIZON:

The Bucs travel to Louisville, Ky., to face the top-ranked Bellarmine Knights on Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 7:00 pm.