Second Half Surge Leads Bobcats Past DII Barry

By Press release submission

Nov 27, 2022

From November 23, 2022 post.

The St. Thomas University (STU) Men's Basketball team beat the Barry Buccaneers in the final seconds of Tuesday nights game. This is arguably one of the biggest wins in Patrick Crarey's time here at St. Thomas. With this win, the Bobcats carry momentum heading into the short holiday break, and will play Kansas Christian on Friday at home.

The Buccaneers came out hot, getting an early five-point lead. Milton Matthews got the Bobcats going with a three. Barry hot a couple more shots, and Milton Matthews hit a jumper from just outside the paint. Fred Mulbah brought the game to within two with a jumper on the fast break, and a layup right after.

After a minute of no scoring from each side, Barry would hit a jumper, followed by another Fred Mulbah jumper in the paint to keep it a two-point game. After getting to within two, the Buccaneers went on a nine-point run. Justyn Rogers had enough, and hit one from behind the arch, followed by his own lay in off the fast break to bring it to within three.

Federico Frascari checked in and immediately drilled a three. When it looked like the Bobcats would take the lead, Barry went on another run to make it an eight-point game. Justyn Rogers and Dalon Dean cut the lead in half, both with tough lay ups in the paint. Jordan Hernandez responded to a Buccaneer basket with a shot in the paint.

Barry went on another run that was eight-points, but the Bobcats just wouldn't go away. Fred Mulbah got it started with his signature jumper at the top of the key. The impressive freshman Josh Thrower made it a four-point game after throwing one down. Barry went on to make a layup, but Milton Matthews hit another from behind the arch for the last points in the first half, and the Bobcats were down three.

Just like the start of the first half, the Buccaneers got a quick start to the second half, extending their lead by eight. Milton Matthews put a stop to the run hitting a three from deep. Barry went on these long runs the whole night, this time extending the lead by eleven-points. The Bobcats never backed down, and Jordan Hernandez made a tough layup in the paint to put an end to the second longest run of the night for Barry.

A Milton Matthews jumper, and Dalon Dean three ball brought STU to within five. The Buccaneers went on the longest run of the night making it a twelve-point game. Milton Matthews hit a layup, followed by a Jordan Hernandez three brought the game to with seven. Barry went on to keep a consistent ten to twelve-point lead for the next three minutes.

D'andre Johnson went right over a Barry defender for the slam to end the scoring streak in favor of the Buccaneers. Fred Mulbah made a layup in the paint, and Milton Matthews hit both free throws at the line to make it a seven-point game with five minutes to play. Justyn Rogers drove to the paint and made a tough layup. Rogers would hit another layup in the paint to make it a three-point game with three minutes to play.

Barry extended the lead to four with a free throw, but Justyn Rogers was big in this game, and made a free throw of his own to keep it a three-point game. As time dwindled, coach Crarey and the Bobcats had a decision to make. Either shoot the three to tie it, or try for two points then foul.

Milton Matthews hit a jumper to make it a one-point game with four seconds to play. Jordan Hernandez stole the ball from Barry on the check in, and hit a jumper at the top of the key with two seconds remaining, and the Bobcats took their first lead of the night by one point. Barry took a timeout, and had to go the whole length of the court to try to win the game. The Buccaneers ended up going all the way down to court because STU didn't want to foul, but Barry ended up missing the layup. The Bobcats won the game by a score of 83-82 for one of the biggest wins in Patrick Crarey's time with St. Thomas.

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