FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The Buccaneers nearly spoiled the Sharks senior night but came up just short, losing 91-87 on Wednesday, Feb. 26 in the Rick Case Arena.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Nova Southeastern 91, Barry 87
Records: Nova Southeastern (21-4, 15-4 SSC), Barry (18-8, 12-7 SSC)
All-Time Series: Barry leads 41-23
SUMMARY:
- Barry stormed out of the gates with a 12-4 run fueled by six points from Tylan Birts. Jake Kakar had one of his most efficient halves of the season, tallying 10 points on 4-6 shooting including a 2-3 clip from deep. The Sharks secured the lead with six minutes left in the half and didn't look back. The Bucs ended the period with back-to-back buckets to cut the lead to six. | Nova 49, Barry 43
- A smooth three-pointer from Birts at the 17:14 mark ignited a ferocious 20-3 run by Barry. After a trading baskets for the last five minutes, Nova secured a two possession lead with a bucket from deep from Eddie Puisis with 27 seconds left. Birts 17 points in the second half combined with an efficient 40 percent clip from deep as a team allowed the Bucs to a senior night spoiler a reality down the stretch.
NOTEWORTHY:
- Despite the loss, Birts showed he firmly deserves to be in the SSC player of the year conversation after winning the battle down low with reigning player of the year Mark Matthews. Birts had 25 points and 12 rebounds compared to 14 and 6 for the Shark senior.
- Kakar finished the contest with 21 points including sinking five of nine buckets from downtown.
- Although Barry out shot the Sharks by a 4% margin from the field, 21 turnovers drowned the Bucs in the possession battle.
ON THE HORIZON:
Barry will close on the regular season with senior night against Saint Leo on Saturday, Feb. 29 at 7:30 pm.
