Barry Sneaks By Panthers 60-56 In Final Minute

By  //  January 30, 2014

Poor shooting dooms Panthers against Bucs

BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA — The Florida Tech Panthers hit the road Wednesday night, as they closed the first half of the Sunshine State Conference schedule by facing Barry in Miami Shores.

Tiesha Flagler grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds, but Barry came away with the 60-56 victory. (Florida Tech image)
Tiesha Flagler grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds, but Barry came away with the 60-56 victory. (Florida Tech image)

The Panthers took a four point lead at halftime, but the Bucs went on a run to start to the second half, and earned the 60-56 victory.

“I thought we had opportunities to win the game,” said head coach John Reynolds. “I thought our free-throw shooting kept us in the game, but Barry was able to grab rebounds in the last two minutes.”

John Reynolds
John Reynolds

In a game that featured Barry’s Tyler Hardy at 19.4 points per game, and the Panthers’ Kayk Wilson at 18.7 points per game as the two leading scorers in the SSC, it was only fitting that those two players were first to put their teams on the board.

Hardy scored the first seven points of the game for the Bucs to give Barry the early 7-6 lead. Trailing 17-12, the Panthers received a boost from senior Ida Gustafsson, who brought the squad to within one at 19-18 with 5:39 to go in the half. After the teams traded scoring runs, senior Rita Acevedo beat the buzzer, and sent the Panthers to the locker room with a 31-27 lead.

Kayk Wilson
Kayk Wilson

The Panthers (13-7, 4-4 SSC) shot 31.4 percent from the floor in the first half. They were 2-of-7 from three point range, and 7-of-8 from the foul line. Gustafsson led the Panthers with 11 points in the first half.

The Bucs shot 34.3 percent in the half. They were 3-of-7 from beyond the arc, and were just 0-of-1 from the foul line. Hardy led the Bucs with 12 points in the half.

The Bucs (11-6, 4-4 SSC) offense came out and went on a 16-5 run giving Barry the 43-36 lead with 10:47 to play. The Bucs were able to extend their lead to nine points with less than 10 minutes to play.

Ida Gustafsson
Ida Gustafsson

The Panthers offense got going late in the second half, as they cut the deficit to one at 55-54 with one minute to play. Hardy put the Bucs up two at 56-54 with under 25 seconds to play.

The Panthers tied the game behind a basket from Acevedo. However, a foul put the Bucs at the line where Kaylia Richardson made both shots.

The Panthers had a chance to tie the game, but could not get the shot to fall, as the Bucs added to more free throws and earned the 60-56 win.

Rita Acevedo
Rita Acevedo

The Panthers shot 16-of-63 for the game, good for 25.4 percent. They were 2-of-11 from beyond the arc, and 13-of-15 from the foul line. Acevedo finished with her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds to go with four assists. Sophomore Tiesha Flagler finished just shy of a double-double with eight points and a career-high 16 rebounds.

Wilson and Gustafsson each finished with a team-high 14 points.

The Bucs shot 23-of-62 from the field goof for 37.1 percent. They were 4-of-11 from three-point range, and 10-of-16 from the foul line. Hardy finished with a game-high 21 points, and a double-double with 13 rebounds. Richardson scored 17 points, and Colette Eule scored 10 points to round out the Bucs in double-figures.