MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – The University of Sioux Falls men's basketball team (1-3), which had two players score in double figures, dropped a 77-50 decision to #20/24 Barry (4-0) at the Cesar Odio Thanksgiving Classic in Miami Shores, Fla, on Friday night.
USF, troubled with foul problems all night, was led by sophomore forward Cutler Finneman with 11 points and six rebounds and senior guard Charles Ward with 10 points. Two Cougars, Ward and Mack Johnson, who scored nine paoints, fouled out in the last five minutes of the game. Overall, USF had 22 fouls.
After USF trailed just 32-26 at halftime, Barry had a 45-24 second half run to pull away with the win. The Cougars had crawled within three early in the second half (32-29) on three-pointer by Mack Johnson but then the Buccaneers took control of the game with a 12-0 run.
“Give them credit, they are a very good team and well-coached,” USF head men's basketball coach Chris Johnson told Cougars play-by-play announcer Tom Frederick after the game. “We did a decent job on their best player (Yunio Barrueta), but we weren't able to do some things with some of their other guys, who are really athletic. We really fought in the first half and stayed in it. The second half, they made a couple of contested three's and then went on a big run."
“We have to find a way to shoot it better,” said Johnson, whose squad hit 17-of-50 shots from the field for 34 percent. “As a whole we didn't play well enough to beat a good team. We just have to find a way to keep improving,” he said.
A big key in the win was Barry's propensity to get to the foul line. They hit 27-of-33 free throws for 81.8 percent while USF made 9-of-15 for 60 percent. USF hit 7-of-22 from three-point range for 31.8 percent. Barry made 6-of-23 three-points for 26.1 percent. The Cougars lost the rebound battle, 39-34.
Barry was led in scoring by senior guard Deric Hill with 17 points while Yunio Barrueta had 16.
The Cougars, which will face Young Harris on Saturday at 4 p.m. (CST) at the Odio Thanksgiving Classic, led early on a three-ball from Johnson (3-2). Then, Barry, using an 8-0 burst, was able to build a 10-3 lead with 17:15 to play in the first half. Ward answered the Buccaneers' run by hitting a pair of jumpers to keep USF close at 10-9 with about 15 minutes left in the first half. Later, the Cougars fell behind by 12 points (28-16, 4:03 mark), but battled back. With Finneman knocking down one of his three, three-pointers on the night, USF clawed within 28-23 with 2:15 left until halftime. Then, Finneman had another three to cut Barry's lead to 30-26 with 33 seconds to play. However, the Bucs received a basket from Alvaro Simoza in the final seconds to take a 32-26 halftime lead.
After the Cougars cut the lead to three early in the second half, Barry had the 12-0 run for a 44-29 lead at the 15:52 mark. From that point, Barry continued to build the lead as USF battled foul problems and shooting woes.
