FORT MYERS, Fla.- As a freshman, Florida SouthWestern's Keon Ellis had to bide his time, playing behind First Team All-Conference guards and eventual Power 5 signees in Charles Manning Jr. and Maddox Daniels. His role changed significantly as a sophomore as he stepped into the limelight of being the Bucs' bonafide star and it was never more evident than in FSW's Suncoast Conference opener in 2020 when he brought us our #3 moment on our countdown of the Top 10 Moments in FSW Athletics in 2019-20, his record breaking 41 point performance against St. Petersburg.
For his standards, Ellis had a relatively pedestrian first half against the Titans 'only' putting up 13 points in the first 20 minutes of the contest, pushing FSW out to a double digit lead at the break 40-30.
He exploded in the second half, and specifically late in the second half, scoring 24 points in the final 11 minutes of the game to give him the Bucs' single game scoring record. With 11 minutes to go and the Bucs in control, a jumper and back to back threes gave the Alabama bound sophomore 27 points on the night. Later on a pair of free throws gave him a career high 36 and a drive and score pushed his total on the night to 38. With the clock ticking under a minute to go, St. Petersburg took a shot and the Bucs cleared the glass, meaning that FSW would have to take one more shot to avoid a shot clock violation. There was no doubt who was getting the ball for that final shot. While the shot Ellis settled on wouldn't be considered a high percentage effort for most players, Ellis isn't just another player, and his off balanced leaning three pointer found nothing but the bottom of the net giving him 41 points in the game to set a new FSW all-time record to cap off a 92-77 win for the Bucs.
More impressive than the 41 points themselves was that Ellis needed just 22 field goal attempts to accomplish the feat, as he went 14-22 overall and 6-10 from three point land while also connecting on a perfect 7-7 from the three throw line.
Stay tuned to FSWBucs.com and @FSWBucs on social media on Thursday as we continue our countdown the top moment of the Bucs Athletics season with our #2 spot on the list!
Top 10 Moments of the 2019-2020 FSW Athletics Year
#10- Bucs Volleyball Opens Inaugural Season
#9- Bucs Women's Basketball Earns Second Straight Bid to Nationals
#8- Ellefson Blasts Three Home Runs vs. Miami Dade
#7- Bucs Baseball Stuns San Jac in Extras
#6- Bucs Roll Through Third Straight Undefeated Conference Season
#5- Heisler's Back to Back Extra Inning Walk Offs
#4- Bucs Down Central in Five Set Thriller at State
#3- Ellis Lights Up St. Pete For School Record 41
#2- 7/16/20
#1- 7/17/20