WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Palm Beach Atlantic men's basketball team faced a tough test in the form of the Barry Bucs who entered the game on an eight-game winning streaking.
 
The Sailfish had a strong showing in front of the Rubin Arena crowd, including a chance to win it at the buzzer; however, Darhius Nunn's 3-pointer fell short resulting in Barry (12-2, 6-1 SSC) coming away with the 91-89 victory. 
 
The home crowd was treated to a dramatic finish. With Barry leading 91-88 with six seconds left, Nunn was fouled on the inbounds pass which sent him to the line. The senior sank the first shot to cut the deficit to two, then missed the second shot on purpose to give PBA (10-4, 3-3 SSC) a chance. It seemed as if the ball glanced off a Barry defender and went out of bounds, but the referee made the tough decision to award the Bucs the ball. On the ensuing inbounds play, Nunn drew an offensive foul to give possession back to the Sailfish with three seconds remaining leading to the missed buzzer-beater.
 
After shooting 9-of-16 from beyond the arc in the first half, PBA regressed to the mean going 2-of-14 from deep in the second half. The Sailfish also lost the rebounding battle to Barry 49-24, including 17 offense rebounds for the Bucs.
 
Nunn led PBA in scoring with 23 points along with eight assists, four rebounds and two steals. Jules Jasmin was right behind him with 22 points and three rebounds. De'Ondre Jackson followed with 21 points of his own with three 3-pointers. Dan Largey added 14 points including four 3-pointers.
 
PBA had the hot hand from 3-point range to start the contest. The Sailfish converted on their first two possessions, hitting from downtown to take a quick 6-0 lead. An early 11-2 run with 3-pointers from Nunn and Largey gave PBA a 20-10 lead through a frantic first six minutes of play.
 
Barry cut the deficit to two with a 12-6 run with six minutes remaining in the first period. PBA tried to keep its distance as the 'Fish ended the half on a 6-2 run to take a 48-41 lead going into halftime.
 
The Bucs made their move midway through the second half as an 8-0 run gave Barry its first lead of the game with 10 minutes remaining. Nunn kept the Sailfish in the game with two 3-pointers that kept Barry from pulling away. The 'Fish regained the lead as an 8-3 run with four made free throws by Jasmin made it 83-82 PBA down the stretch.  Ultimately, the game finished with five lead changes, most of them coming in the final minutes.
 
PBA did win the turnover battle forcing 17 Buccaneer miscues resulting to 19 points off turnovers. The Sailfish also continued to perform well at the free-throw line shooting 22-of-29 from the charity stripe.
 
The Sailfish end their homestand on Saturday against Rollins. The game at Rubin Arena will tip-off at 4 p.m.