BRADENTON, Fla.- The Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers didn't lose a single game in December, and then followed that with an undefeated January, and if they play the way they did on the road at State College of Florida on Saturday, February may well follow the same script as the 2nd ranked Bucs jumped out to a 17-4 lead and never looked back Saturday afternoon as they blew out the Manatees 94-67 on their home floor to improve to 24-1 on the year.  

 

The Bucs got off to a hot start as Jermaine Marshall banged a pair of threes and De'Lazarus keys another to give the Bucs a quick 9-0 lead to get things going.  They continued to roll as their second unit came in with Jalen Finch hooking up with Ralph Bissainthe for back to back dunks at the 13 minute mark to stretch the FSW lead to 17-4.  The Bucs then stepped back behind the arc once again and the shots kept falling as SCF had no answer for the FSW attack as they stretched their lead to 35-18 on 7 of 11 shooting from three to begin the ballgame.  SCF made a push to get back into it, but six straight from the Bucs to end the half gave FSW a 47-32 lead as the teams went to the locker rooms at half.  

 

FSW shot 57% from the field and a scorching 60% from three in the first 20 minutes.  Keon Ellis led the Bucs with 12 points on a perfect 4-4 shooting from deep while Marshall had 10 first half points for FSW. 

 

The Bucs left no doubt on who was going to win this one early in the second as they came out of the break and scored the first 12 points to open up a 27 point lead on the Manatees.  It was never close again. FSW took their largest lead of the game at the midway point of the second at 72-43 and eventually rolled to a 94-67 at the final horn. 

 

The Bucs actually shot better in the second half than they did in the first, finishing the game at 59% overall from the field and a cool 50% from three point land.  Seven different players scored in double figures for FSW including two who notched double-doubles.  Marshall finished with a team high 20 points on 7-9 shooting while pulling down 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double in seven Suncoast Conference games this season.  Finch recorded a different kind of double-double, hitting 10 points to go along with his career high 11 assists in the game, 9 of those coming in the first half.  Hasahnn Reynolds scored a career high 12 points off the bench for the Bucs.  

 

FSW wins their 17th straight game to improve to 24-1 overall on the year and takes a two game lead with five to go in the Suncoast Conference standings at 7-0.  State College of Florida drops their second straight to fall to 18-8 overall and sees any chance of making a late push for a conference title come to an end as they fall to .500 in league play at 4-4.  

 

The Bucs are back in action at home on Wednesday in a big matchup with Polk State at 7:30 in Suncoast Credit Union Arena.  An FSW win would all but seal up their third straight conference championship while a loss would open the door back up for Polk who would be just a game out with four to go.