Florida Tech Falls To No. 12 Barry 104-88, Barry’s Barrueta Rakes In 41 Points

By  //  February 12, 2016

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For the second consecutive ball game, the Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year favorite poured in 41 points as the Buccaneers ran their home win streak to 15 with a 104-88 victory over Florida Tech Wednesday in Miami Shores. (Image by Matt Starkey)

BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – With the level Yunio Barrueta is playing at right now, there aren’t a whole lot of teams in Division II that’ll be able to give 12th-ranked Barry a run for its money. For the second consecutive ball game, the Sunshine State Conference Player of the Year favorite poured in 41 points as the Buccaneers ran their home win streak to 15 with a 104-88 victory over Florida Tech Wednesday in Miami Shores.

“We played a great team on the road that’s been on a roll,” said Panthers’ head coach Billy Mims.

“At the end of the day, Barry is playing as well as any team in the country. I think this Barry team has a chance to go a long, long way this year.”

The Panthers stayed close trailing by only four at the break, but had no answer for Barrueta, who tallied 29 of his 41 in the second half to help the Buccaneers pull away.

Barry big man Tray Leonard added 21 points and nine rebounds, while point guard Elvar Fridriksson recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 assists.

Overall, Barry finished the night with 34 assists opposed to only 11 turnovers.

Florida Tech shot 52.1 percent from the field in the contest. However, the Panthers’ 21 turnovers allowed Barry to turn the game into a track meet – not ideal against a team that’s topped the century mark in three straight games.

Billy Mims
Billy Mims

“If we hadn’t turned the ball over 21 times we might’ve had 100 points tonight,” said Mims.

“The turnovers really hurt. In the second half, we let the tempo get away from us. Barry is such an explosive and talented offensive team. They put up 64 second-half points on us. It’s hard to win when that happens.”

Florida Tech evened the score at 36-36 on a Corbin Jackson lay-up with 2:16 remaining in the first half. Barry would respond, though, with a 17-4 spurt spanning the two halves that proved too difficult to overcome.

“I thought the turning point in the game was the last minute of the first half,” said Mims.

“We miss the front end of a 1-and-1 with a chance to take the lead. Instead, they go into the locker up four. I thought Barry had the momentum as they left the court and then carried it over into the second half. It’s hard when you dig a hole on the road.”

Jackson registered his 11th double-double of the year with another strong 25-point, 11-rebound performance. Jordan Majors chipped in with 16 points and nine rebounds to go along with Sam Daniel’s 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting.

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After losing the battle of the boards 46-31 in the season’s first meeting back on Jan. 20, the Panthers outrebounded Barry 42-34 Wednesday night.

FIT trailed for 36:25 of the contest.

Mims and company will return to action on the road Saturday at Rollins.

For complete coverage, log onto FloridaTechSports.com.