Barry Holds Off Tampa in SSC Road Contest

Box score

MIAMI SHORES, Fla. - The University of Tampa (4-9, 0-4 SSC) men's basketball team played with a lot of fight but came up short in the end as Barry University (7-7, 2-1 SSC) picked up an 80-73 victory over its Sunshine State Conference opponent on Saturday.

Barry looked to pull away early as it held a 24-7 lead before the Spartans, led by Stefon Barfield, mounted a rally that would put them within four points of the Buccaneers. Barfield finished the first-half with a game-high 14 points as UT trailed 38-32 at the half.

The Buccaneers would surge ahead in the second half before Tampa hit 3-pointers of three consecutive possessions to cut the Barry lead to 60-58 with 7:33 to play. Osby Kelly connected on two long-range shots in the sequence.

Callum Townsend would make the game a one-possession affair with a 3-pointer of his own with 27-seconds to play, though the Bucs converted on 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to thwart Tampa's comeback bid.

Barfield finished with a career-high 20 points to lead all scorers as Graham added 19 for head coach Richard Schmidt's squad. In his first career start, freshman guard Terrell Pritchett added 11 points to go with a team-high five assists.

Barry shot 53.4 percent from the field and committed just nine turnovers while forcing 15 for the Spartans.

The Spartans will return to the court on Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Fla., as it will meet SSC opponent Eckerd College at 7:30 p.m., at the MacArthur Center. Live stats and a webcast will be available through tampaspartans.com.

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