Box Score LAKELAND, FL - Florida Southern College men's basketball erased a 13-point first-half deficit, but was unable to hold off No. 14 Barry in a 106-99 loss on Saturday at Jenkins Field House. The Moccasins (3-7, 2-2 SSC) trailed the Buccaneers (7-1, 4-1), 22-9 in the opening 10 minutes, but fought back to take a late second-half lead.
Barry was able to hang on in the closing minutes, outscoring the Mocs 20-13 over the final four minutes of play to slip by Florida Southern.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Florida Southern sputtered early, falling behind 22-9 in the opening nine minutes of action. The Mocs hit just four of their first 12 shots, but chipped away at Barry's lead and drew within one point (35-34) on Michael Volovic's three-pointer with 5:11 to go in the first half.
• Barry would push its lead back to double-digits (45-34) with just under three minutes left in the half, but the Moccasins outscored the Bucs 10-5 to close the half and headed to the locker room down by just five points (50-45).
• After Barry maintained its lead for much of the early part of the second half, LaBrian Shiflet gave the Mocs their first lead of the game (66-65) when he connected from beyond the arc with 12:56 to go. Florida Southern as able to push its lead to five points (70-65) just over a minute later.
• The Buccaneers responded with an 8-1 run to take a 73-71 lead with 10:06 to play. Florida Southern was able to battle back and held a three-point lead (82-79) with just under six minutes on the clock.
• Barry would come back to tie things up at 86-86 with 3:56 to play, and took the lead for good on a layup just moments later. The game remained fairly tight down the stretch as Florida Southern used the three-pointer to stay in the game, but the Buccaneers were able to hang on for the win.
• The Moccasins shot 46.9 percent (30-of-64) in the contest, including 16-of-36 from beyond the arc and 23-of-28 at the free-throw line. Barry connected on 51.5 percent (35-of-68) of its shots, and went 13-of-30 from long range and was also 23-of-28 at the line.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Florida Southern fell to 48-20 all-time against Barry, including 28-6 when facing the Bucs at Jenkins Field House. The Moccasins also fell to 885-328 all-time at home, and 696-185 at Jenkins Field House.
• Michael Volovic scored a game-high 21 points on 6-of-14 from the floor. All of his made field goals came from three-point range, and he added three points from the charity stripe. Volovic has scored 20 or more points five times this season, and four times in the last five games.
• Jeremiah Davis (19), Jarel Spellman (16), Tyler Ross (14), LaBrian Shiflet (14) and Jack Rauch (11) also scored in double figures. Spellman and Rauch each grabbed nine rebounds, while Ross finished with eight. Spellman also recorded a block to give him 111 for his career.
• Barry scored 22 points off 15 Florida Southern turnovers. The Buccaneers finished with 25 assist on 35 made shots, while the Mocs dished out 15 assists on 30 made field goals.
UP NEXT
• Florida Southern returns to action on Friday, Dec. 16 against Miles, and will face Auburn-Montgomery on Dec. 17. The Moccasins close out the calendar year with a home game against Tampa on Dec. 30.
