MIAMI GARDENS, Fla.- The Bobcats welcomed the Barry Buccaneers (8-1) to the Fernandez Center Saturday night for what turned out to be the most exciting competition held in the building yet.  Barry jumped out to an 18-point advantage heading into the half but surrendered their lead late in the final minutes.  Unfortunately, fouls began to mount for STU and they dropped their fifth game of the season, 69-74.

The opening minutes of the game showed two evenly matched teams, however, Barry took a late run heading into the half.  STU failed to score in the final three minutes of the opening period while Barry took a 9-0 run into the locker room.  Poor shooting plagued the Bobcats early, as they recorded 24% from the field hitting 7-of-29.  Conversely, Barry shot 43% from the field with 4-of-9 coming from beyond the arc.  STU also surrendered the turnover and rebound battles in the first half.  Preston Jackson led the Bobcats in scoring before the break with 6 points on 2-of-5 shooting.

The second half was a completely different story.  Antonio Jones overcame his first-half struggles and scored 29 points in the closing period.  Jones led the Bobcats on an 8-0 run midway through the second half hitting clutch shot after clutch shot.  STU gained the lead with 3:38 remaining after Patrick Louissaint grabbed a rebound following a missed shot from Jones, and put it back for the easy bucket.  A few missed shots and clumsy fouls proved to be the undoing of the Bobcats as Barry grabbed a five point lead with 1:38 remaining.  The Bobcats fought hard but lost in the end, 69-74.

Jones led the game in scoring with 33 points on 11-of-27 and 7-of-8 from the free-throw line.  Preston Jackson had his best game of the season with 14 points and 14 rebounds.  Kristaps Brencans provided quality minutes off the bench with 9 points and a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe.  STU (2-5) will get a chance at redemption as they go to Barry on Friday for a 7:00 pm game.