FORT PIERCE, Fla.- In their last five meetings with the Indian River Pioneers, the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers just couldn't get over the hump.  Going into Wednesday's Top 20 battle between #17 FSW and #2 Indian River, the Pioneers had won five straight over the Bucs, none coming by more than five points and two needing overtime.  To say FSW was frustrated with those results may be the understatement of the year.  Wednesday, the Bucs took out those frustrations on the Pioneers, jumping out to a 6-0 lead to begin the game and never trailing, going up by as many as 19 late in the second half before finishing off a 75-66 win to net their highest ranked win in program history.  

 

As they did the last time the two hooked up on the Pioneers home court a month ago, FSW got off to a blistering start, scoring the first six points of the game and holding Indian River without a point through the first four minutes of the contest.  This time however, they were able to keep momentum on their side and build on the lead, pushing their advantage to 23-16 on a drive and score from Jordan Mitchell before upping it to double digits at 28-18 with 4:00 left in the first.  The Bucs added two more to their lead before the break, taking a 35-23 cushion into the locker rooms at half. 

 

It was more of the same for the Bucs early in the second half as they continued to hold the Pioneers at bay, getting a huge block from Bryant Selebangue at one end and a easy two in transition from Marcus Niblack on the other to up their lead to 52-36 with 12:00 remaining. Indian River made one last push, but the Bucs just never let them in as Klein Alexandre drained a three from the corner for the dagger with just over 4:00 to go to push FSW's lead back to 16 at 62-46 and the Bucs went on to finish off a 75-66 win to ruin the Pioneers final home game of the season. 

 

Marcus Niblack again gave the Pioneers trouble, finishing with a team high 24 points on 10-17 shooting while Rhyjon Blackwell joined him in double figures with 11 and Selebangue came up big on the inside with 8 points, 4 blocks, and 14 rebounds to make him the new FSW single season rebounding record holder with 268. 

 

FSW picks up their 20^th win of the season as they improve to 20-5 overall and 7-3 in Southern Conference play while the Bucs snap a 13 game win streak for the Pioneers as Indian River drops to 25-3 overall and 10-1 in league play.  

 

The win over the 2^nd ranked Pioneers for FSW marks the highest ranked opponent the Bucs have ever defeated, topping their win over 4^th ranked Tallahassee in 2017.  

 

The Bucs return home for one final time on Saturday when they host Miami Dade on Sophomore Day in Suncoast Credit Union Arena.  The Bucs and Sharks will tip at 2 PM after FSW honors their nine sophomores playing in their final home game with the Bucs with a pregame ceremony.