Barry Women, Tampa Men Open SSC Basketball Championships with Wins
 UT’s Anthony Griffis scored 26 points (Photo by Jim Hogue) |
The 2013 SSC Basketball Championships tipped off Wednesday evening at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Fla., with No. 8 Barry holding off No. 9 Florida Tech 50-44 and No. 9 Tampa rolling past No. 8 Lynn 74-49.
In the women’s game, Florida Southern jumped out to a 10-4 lead less than five minutes in, but Barry stormed back to take an 11-10 lead with just under 12 minutes left in the half. The teams played closely until the 4:00 mark when Barry reeled off a 9-0 run to grab a 10-point lead. The Bucs carried a 27-20 lead into intermission.
Florida Southern began the second half with a run of its own, tying things up at 29-29 with 14:42 remaining. The teams traded jabs down the stretch, and the score was still tied at 41-41 with just over three minutes left in regulation.
Barry built a five-point cushion, 46-41, at the 1:57 mark, but yet again, the resilient Moccasins whittled it to 46-44 on a Kirstin McIntyre lay-up with 1:04 showing on the clock.
Barry’s Tyler Hardy turned the tide for the Bucs for good when she grabbed an offensive rebound and hit the put-back with 28 seconds, giving Barry a 48-44 led it would not relinquish.
Hardy led the Buccaneers with 14 points and eight rebounds. Colette Eule chipped in 13 points and seven boards.
McIntyre had a valiant effort for FSC, posting 15 points and 14 rebounds. Melanie Ducott tallied 17 points.
In the men’s opening-round game, Tampa blew the contest open with a 16-4 run to take a 20-7 lead just under 10 minutes into the first period. The lead extended to 32-17 with 2:12 remaining, and the Knights would whittle it down to 35-25 at the half.
Lynn managed to hang around in the early part of the second period and trailed by six, 40-34, with 14:03 left. Nevertheless, it was all Tampa from there, and the Spartans never looked back en route to a 74-49 victory.
Anthony Griffis was on fire for Tampa, netting 26 points on 10-for-14 shooting. Vincent Cornu chipped in a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Slobodan Miljanic led Lynn with 15 points.
With its win, Barry advances to face top-seeded Nova Southeastern at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Tampa will next face No. 1 Saint Leo at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
