FORT MYERS, FLA.- The #3 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers made short work of the visiting Victory Rock Blue Devils, putting up 109 points on just 77 field goal attempts, blowing away the squad from Tampa 109-64 to move to 18-1 on the season.
Buc fans were a little uneasy as things began Saturday afternoon at Suncoast Credit Union Arena. FSW fell behind 10-3 to get things going and remained down by seven at the 13 minute mark as Victory Rock got out to a 19-12 advantage. Slowly but surely the Bucs worked their way back into the game, taking their first lead of the afternoon with 9:40 to go in the first half as Charles Manning Jr. found Terence Lewis II for a bucket to put them in front 23-22. They never trailed again. Back to back threes from Destin Barnes moments later quickly pushed the FSW lead to 10 and by the half the Bucs opened up a 15 point lead at 50-35.
The Bucs continued their roll as the second half began, stretching their lead to 20 in the first three minutes as Mason Daniels found Simeon Kirkland for a two handed slam and Barnes found an open Maddox Daniels for a dead eye three to make it 61-37. FSW worked the ball inside and out, getting whatever shot they wanted, whenever they wanted it as DeShawn Thomas got into the act with a powerful dunk and Maddox Daniels connected again from deep to stretch the lead to 30. The Bucs put on a show over the final 13 minutes, scoring 34 points, hitting the century mark for the second straight game with 3:44 to go when Fernando Lopez flushed one home with two hands on a sweet dish by Jalen Finch. At the final horn it was all purple and aqua as the Bucs took home their seventh straight win with a 109-64 victory.
FSW shot 57% from the field in the win while holding Victory Rock to just 34% shooting. The Bucs had six different players finish in double figures including Barnes who scored a team high 16 and Maddox Daniels who had 13. Manning Jr., Mason Daniels, and Lewis II all had 11 while Thomas ended the afternoon with 10.
The Bucs improve to 18-1 on the year with the win while the Blue Devils drop to 9-6.
FSW will return to Suncoast Conference action on Wednesday as they hit the road to take on State College of Florida-Manatee in a 7:00 tip in Bradenton. They return home to the friendly confines on Saturday, January 19th when they host Polk State in a 4 PM tip.
PHOTO GALLERY BY TESSA MORTENSEN
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SUNCOAST CREDIT UNION ARENA
The Buccaneers compete in the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena. Suncoast Credit Union Arena is approximately 75,000 square feet and is home to the FSW basketball teams and a student athletic center. The arena seats approximately 3,300 fans and includes six skyboxes, a hospitality event center, competition courts that convert into recreational courts, athletic office space, student, faculty and staff wellness, and an athletic center with a fitness pavilion, men's and women's locker rooms and a weight training area. The arena has two Daktronics displays, on the north and south walls, that each measure 10 feet high by 20 feet wide. Both displays incorporate variable content zoning to each show one large image or they can be divided into multiple windows to show any variety of live video, instant replays, up-to-the-minute statistics, graphics and animations, and sponsorship messages. One-hundred feet of ribbon displays have been installed on the east and west walls of the arena. The ribbons provide the opportunity to supplement the content on the main displays as well as highlight sponsors throughout events.