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Panthers Buckle Under Barry Barrage

Jordan Majors – Photo: Sports Lowdown

The Barry Buccaneers shot the lights out Wednesday night, beating the Florida Tech Panthers 102-83 in the Sunshine State Conference Quarterfinal game in Miami Shores. With the loss, the Panthers 2017-2018 season ends. They finished 13-16 overall, with an 8-12 regular season in the conference.

Jordan Majors did his part, putting up another 32-point game for the Panthers. It is the fourth time in his last five games that Majors hit the 32-point mark. The only game he didn’t do it during that run was a 16-point game against Nova Southeastern on February 24. He also led the team with five rebounds. The highlight of the night for Majors came when he scored with 25 seconds left, becoming the Panthers all-time leading scorer with 1,898 points. The hoop broke the previous scoring mark held by Justin Sedlak.

Patrick Anderson (15) and RJ Coil (11) were the only other Panthers to finish the game in double digits. Barry had five players in double digits led by Elvar Fridriksson’s 23 points. Brothers Sawyer and Kooper Glick combined for 29 points and nine three-pointers.

Barry was seeded first in the tournament and they played like it, shooting 66.1 percent (37-of-56) from the field. They were 14-of-24 from behind the arc (58.3 percent) and 14-of-15 (93.3 percent from the charity stripe).

Both teams started out hot, with Anderson, Valur Valsson, and Majors all hitting three-pointers in the first 4:08 of the game, giving the Panthers an 11-7 lead. Coil followed that with a layup, extending the lead to six.

Barry tied the game at 13 and things went back-and-forth for a stretch with Florida Tech taking a 23-22 lead with 12:27 left, thanks to another Anderson three. At that point, the Panthers were 9-for-11 from the field, while the Bucs were 8-for-10.

Unfortunately for the Panthers. they would never lead again as they hit a cold spell and Barry continued to light up the night. The Glick brothers hit consecutive three’s and Marko Tomic had one of his own, making it 31-23. A three by Fridriksson ended a 14-0 run and the Panthers were down 36-23 with 6:24 to go in the half.

Kooper Glick would hit two more three’s in the half including one at the buzzer, giving the home team a 51-32 lead at the break.

Barry hit five more threes in the first 6:13 and extended their lead to 74-43, a 31-point spread. Majors and Antonis Pefanis hit back-to-back three-balls with 12:25 to go, as part of a 13-2 run, cutting it back to 20, 76-56. Another Pefanis three with 3:57 to go, cut the lead back to 91-74, but Barry kept their foot on the Panthers throat from there.

To their credit, the Panthers matched Barry’s 51-point total in the second half and on many other nights the Panthers would’ve stayed in the game much longer, but Barry was unstoppable for 40 minutes.

Florida Tech finished the night 30-for-67 from the field (44.8 percent), including 11-for 32 from three (34.4 percent). They were 12-for-16 from the foul line, good for 75 percent.

For more info: Florida Tech @ Barry Box Score (SSC Quarterfinal)

Barry’s season continues with a semifinal matchup against Rollins on Saturday in Lakeland Florida. The game will tip at noon.