Box Score

MELBOURNE – For the second time in six days the Flagler College men's basketball team defeated the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras. The Saints held off the Gallitos 61-59 in the consolation game of the Florida Tech Thanksgiving Tournament Saturday afternoon at the Clemente Center. Flagler defeated P.R.-Rio Piedras 83-76 on Nov. 21 at Flagler Gymnasium.

Flagler improved to 5-1 on the season while P.R.-Rio Piedras fell to 0-5 in its Florida swing.

Ante Gospic (Zadar, Croatia, Polk State College) scored 12 of his 16 points in the first half and grabbed eight rebounds to help pace the Saints. Ryan Barnes (Oviedo, Fla., Newberry College) came off the bench to score a season-high 16 points and made four 3-pointers. Barnes scored 10 points in the second half. Chad July (Fort White, Fla., Bridgton (Maine) Academy), an all-tournament team selection, chipped in with 15 points and six rebounds. Elijah Hayes (Marietta, Ga., Sprayberry HS) made his first collegiate start and scored five points, grabbed six rebounds and handed out a game-high five assists.

Flagler shot 50% (24-48) from the floor, including 60.9% (14-23) in the first half.

Hector Maldonado tallied a game-high 17 points and earned all-tournament honors for the Gallitos. Roman Matos and Gabriel Rosaly each tallied eight points. Roberto Vazquez added six points and a team-high six rebounds.

The game featured four ties and 13 lead changes.

A Barnes 3-pointer with 11 minutes left in the game help spark a 13-1 run by Flagler over a 3:58 stretch. Barnes completed the run with a 3-pointer to give Flagler its largest lead of the game 55-45 with 7:02 left.

The Gallitos would not go away as Maldonado scored the next eight points in three successive possessions with a pair of 3-pointers and a 15-foot jumper.

July followed with a six-foot jumper and Barnes tipped in a Gospic miss to give the Saints a 59-53 lead with 4:31 to go.

Later, Matos scored on a fast break layup and the Gallitos trailed 59-57 with just 2:28 left to play.

On the time down the court for Flagler, Barnes missed a 3-pointer, but Hayes corralled the rebound and four an open Gospic in the paint for a layup to push the lead to 61-57.

Joseph Vegerano sank a 10-foot jumper to bring P.R.-Rio Piedras back to within a basket (61-59) with 1:43 to play.

The Gallitos had two opportunities left to tie or take the lead. After a July player control foul gave the ball back to UPRRP, Maldonado missed a 3-pointer to take the lead with 43 seconds left and July grabbed the rebound. Vegerano fouled Hayes, and Hayes missed the front-end of the one-and-one with 30 seconds to go. After a P.R.-Rio Piedras timeout with 23 seconds left, Maldonado missed a layup with two seconds left.

Flagler will host Lynn University on Tuesday (Nov. 29) at 7 p.m. at Flagler Gymnasium.

P.R.-Rio Piedras vs Flagler
11/26/11 2 p.m. at Clemente Center (Melbourne, Fla.)
At Clemente Center (Melbourne, Fla.)

FLAGLER 61, P.R.-RIO PIEDRAS 59

P.R.-RIO PIEDRAS (0-5)
Hector Maldonado 7-12 0-0 17; Gabriel Rosaly 3-7 0-0 8; Ramon Matos 3-7 2-4
8; Enrique Trenche 3-4 1-2 7; Roberto Vazquez 3-3 0-0 6; Angel Acevdo 2-7
0-0 5; Joseph Vegerano 1-3 2-2 4; Benjamin De La Rosa 1-1 0-0 2; Jeffrey
Santiago 1-2 0-0 2; Adalberto Ramos 0-2 0-0 0; Fernando Vargas 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 24-49 5-8 59.

FLAGLER (5-1)
Ante Gospic 6-10 3-4 16; Ryan Barnes 5-10 2-2 16; Chad July 7-12 1-4 15;
Elijah Hayes 2-4 0-1 5; Matt Clark 2-4 0-0 5; Desmond Gibson 2-5 0-0 4;
Justin Stokes 0-0 0-0 0; Jarrod Branco 0-1 0-0 0; Addison Smith 0-2 0-0 0.
Totals 24-48 6-11 61.

P.R.-Rio Piedras..............   31   28  -   59
Flagler.......................   33   28  -   61

3-point goals--P.R.-Rio Piedras 6-14 (Hector Maldonado 3-6; Gabriel Rosaly
2-3; Angel Acevdo 1-3; Jeffrey Santiago 0-1; Fernando Vargas 0-1), Flagler
7-16 (Ryan Barnes 4-9; Elijah Hayes 1-2; Ante Gospic 1-2; Matt Clark 1-2;
Addison Smith 0-1). Fouled out--P.R.-Rio Piedras-Enrique Trenche,
Flagler-None. Rebounds--P.R.-Rio Piedras 27 (Roberto Vazquez 6), Flagler 27
(Ante Gospic 8). Assists--P.R.-Rio Piedras 14 (Hector Maldonado 4; Enrique
Trenche 4), Flagler 17 (Elijah Hayes 5). Total fouls--P.R.-Rio Piedras 13,
Flagler 14. Technical fouls--P.R.-Rio Piedras-None, Flagler-None. A-208

Consolation game of Florida Tech Thanksgiving Tournament