MIAMI SHORES, Fla. -- The No. 24-ranked Barry Buccaneers dropped an up-and-down, entertaining game against No. 8-ranked Nova Southeastern 102-97 inside the Health & Sports Center on Wednesday night.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: No. 8 NSU (14-2, 8-2 SSC), No. 24 Barry 97 (13-4, 7-3 SSC)
Records: Barry (13-4, 7-3 SSC), NSU (14-2, 8-2 SSC)
All-Time Series: Barry leads 41-23
SUMMARY:
- The Buccaneers scored the first seven points of the game and led 12-5 after a pair of Jake Kakar free throws with 16:33 left in the first half. The Sharks answered back and things were tight for the remainder of the period with neither team leading by more than eight points. Tylan Birts led the Buccaneer offense with 10 points heading into the locker room.
- The back-and-forth affair continued into the second half in game that had nine lead changes and seven ties. However, with 13:09 left in the game, NSU went on a 12-0 run to take an 11 point lead - their largest in the game.
- Barry appeared to be down-and-out trailing 98-91 with 1:10 remaining in regulation, but the Buccaneers have come back from late deficits before this season and had their eyes set on doing it again. A pair of layups by Birts and Toru Dean cut the Sharks lead to three with :22 remaining. Then, David Moya forced a backcourt turnover that led to a Birts dunk, cutting the NSU lead to one with :09 on the clock. At that point, Barry had to play the foul game and NSU's Nick Smith went 4-for-4 from the line to close things out for the Sharks.
NOTEWORTHY:
- Dean continues to gain confidence, setting a new career-high against the Sharks with 17 points on 3-for-6 shooting from behind-the-arc.
- Johannes Dolven has reached double-figure scoring in 11 of the last 12 games. In the last four games he is averaging 16.2 points and 10.2 rebounds on 58 percent shooting.
- The Bucs lost back-to-back games allowing 100 points for the first time since 1990.
ON THE HORIZON:
The Bucs return to the court on Saturday, January 25th against another top-tier SSC team in Florida Southern (15-2, 7-2 SSC) on the road. Tip-off is set for 7:30.
