#14 Mocs Fall in Final Seconds at Barry

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – No. 14 Florida Southern men's basketball was eyeing history Saturday but fell short in an 86-85 defeat to Barry University in the Health & Sports Center in Miami Shores, Fla. The Moccasins dropped their first game of the season and move to 7-1 overall and 2-1 in Sunshine State Conference play.

"Of course we are disappointed we lost," Head Coach Mike Donnelly commented following the Mocs' first loss of the season. "But, I loved how our guys battled against a really good team on the road. I thought we were a little unlucky down the stretch, but I was proud of our effort and thought we played with a lot of toughness and competitive spirit."

Donnelly added, "We will continue to work hard and improve as a team."
 
Four players scored double-digits for No. 14 Florida Southern (7-1, 2-1 SSC) led by redshirt senior E.J. Dambreville with 21 points. Dambreville, a Dorchester, Mass. native, went 6-for-15 from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line while adding one three to his shooting. He had eight total rebounds with one steal and one block.
 
Redshirt sophomore's Jadin Booth, Luke Anderson, and Wes Bongiorni joined Dambreville in double-figures with 19, 13, and 10 points, respectively. Booth made a team-high seven shots while Anderson tied for the team lead in three-pointers made with three (Booth). Bongiorni paced the Mocs in rebounds with nine boards, four offensive, and five on the defensive side.
 
Barry (3-2, 1-1 SSC) also saw four players in double-figures led by Nick Anderson who had a team-high 19 points. Malik Stanley, Amari Haynes, and OT Delancy chipped in with 14, 12, and 10 points respectively.
 
The game saw nine ties and 15 lead changes throughout the 40 minutes of action where Florida Southern held a 19:37 time in the lead while Barry was in front for 18:58.
 
Florida Southern claimed an early seven-point advantage with a 9-2 two-minute period to open the game. The Moccasins saw early points from E.J. Dambreville (4), Wes Bongiorni (2), and Jadin Booth (3) to the Buccaneers two points. Barry battled to tie things at 14 with 15:27 to go before pushing out to a four-point lead, 18-14. The Mocs tied things at 22 and then pushed to a six-point lead capped by three free throws from Dambreville, 28-22 (9:54).
 
Each team would take a lead followed by the opposition rallying back before Southern claimed another six-point gap, 37-31 and again 39-33 off jumpers by Booth. Barry would take its largest lead of the first half of five points, 46-41 and 48-43 to the two-minute mark. After Noah Louis' second-chance layup at the 1:16 mark cut the game to just one point, 48-47 BarryU, neither team would score in the final 1:15 of the opening half.
 
Barry started the second half with a quick score to take a 51-47 lead, but Booth drained a deep three to cut it to one, 51-50 with 18:47 to go. The Bucs would carry a lead to the 14-minute mark before the Mocs made defensive stops and transition buckets to take the lead. Connor Raines and Alex Steen each converted in transition for a 62-61 lead before three Dambreville free throws and a Donovan Smith jumper pushed it to 66-62.
 
The Mocs' saw a five-point lead erased with back-to-back Buccaneer three-pointers to give Barry a 72-71 lead with 7:30 on the clock. The two teams traded free throws for the lead before Booth's pull-up jumper and Dambreville's transition three to push the Mocs up 77-74. Barry recaptured the lead, which it would carry under the two-minute mark, 86-83 (1:47). Bongiorni would grab a rebound and make a second-chance layup to bring it within one, 86-85 (1:08).
 
As time wound down, Barry had possession with 33 seconds to play before Florida Southern's defense forced a shot clock violation and got the ball with seven ticks on the clock, trailing by one, 86-85. Back-to-back timeouts prolonged the final seven seconds which resulted in no attempt for Southern as the ball bounced out of bounds, and brought the game to its conclusion.
 
Up Next
No. 14 Florida Southern looks to rebound Saturday, December 10 at Florida Tech with the tip set for 4:00 p.m. in Melbourne, Fla.
  Read Full Article