FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #1 Florida SouthWestern State Men's Basketball team continued its winning ways on Saturday, capturing their 19th straight win this season and their 35th straight conference win with an 84-66 victory over St. Petersburg to claim their third straight Suncoast Conference Championship and a ticket to the FCSAA State Tournament in March. In the process, a pair of FSW guards put their names in the record books as Keon Ellis became the all-time single season scoring leader with 504 points and Jalen Finch claimed the top spot on the career assists list with 263.
The Bucs got out to a quick start, taking a 7-1 lead to begin the game, but St. Pete scratched back, closing the gap to one at 9-8 five minutes into things. FSW slowly padded their lead, pushing it to 21-12 at the midway point of the half on a steal and score from Berrick JeanLouis. Moments later, five straight points from Keon Ellis gave the Bucs their first double digit advantage of the afternoon and they held that until the four minute mark at 33-23. A pair of late buckets for the Titans sliced into the lead, but at the break, the Bucs led it 36-30.
It was an offensive struggle for both sides in the first 20 minutes as FSW shot just 38% and went 1-11 from three point land while St. Petersburg was even worse at just 27% from the field and 2-12 from deep. JeanLouis led the Bucs with 10 first half points while Jermaine Marshall closed the half with 7 points and 6 rebounds.
It remained a highly contested battle for the first portion of the second half with FSW unable to pull away from the Titans. A St. Petersburg layup in transition made it just a five point game at 49-44 with 13:41 to go. A huge dunk from Ellis over a St. Pete defender got the Bucs back rolling in the right direction and one minute later, a rebound on the defensive end and a lay in on the other for Marshall both gave him a double-double and the Bucs a double digit lead at 57-46. After a Titan tip in, the Bucs scored the next eight straight, taking their largest lead of the game at 65-48 with 10:42 remaining. A smooth dish from Jalen Finch to Marshall for a two handed slam gave Finch his fifth assist of the game to break the Bucs all-time career assist record with his 263rd in the past two seasons. The highlight reel play of the game and maybe the season came with 5:23 to go when JeanLouis put a St. Petersburg defender on a poster, hammering down a one handed thunderous dunk through contact to put the game out of reach at 70-56. One minute later, more history was made when Ellis got to the line and hit a free throw, giving him 19 points in the game and 504 on the season, setting a new FSW single season scoring record. The Bucs went on to win in the end 84-68, in the process clinching their third straight Suncoast Conference Championship.
The Bucs heated up to shoot 50% in the second half and 43% overall while holding the Titans to just 33% shooting on the afternoon. Marshall led the way for FSW with his 10th double-double of the year, setting a new career high with 22 points while corralling a game high 12 rebounds as well. Ellis finished with 19 points and 5 rebounds while JeanLouis had 17 points and 6 boards. Finch was right at his season average with 10 points and 5 assists while posting a team best +18 plus/minus in the contest.
The win gives the Bucs their longest winning streak in program history at 19 games to improve to 26-1 overall on the year. The win is the 35th straight in Suncoast Conference action where FSW is now 9-0 to clinch its third straight conference title. St. Petersburg falls to 12-17 overall land 2-7 in league play with the loss.
The Bucs will have the weekend to celebrate their title before taking the floor again on Wednesday when they travel to Tampa to take on Hillsborough in the two teams final meeting of the 2020 campaign. Tip off for that one will be at 7:30 PM.