NICEVILLE, Fla.- The #14 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers ran into a buzz saw in the #2 Indian River Pioneers Friday afternoon in the FCSAA State Tournament Semifinals as the Pioneers came out of the gates hitting 8 of 11 from three in the first half and shot 58% from the field and 55% from three in the game, defeating the Bucs 90-82 to end FSW's run at the tournament.  

 

It was an entertaining battle early on between the Region's top two offenses as FSW and Indian River traded blow for blow to a 13-12 score in favor of the Pioneers five minutes into the contest. A three from Jonathan Dos Anjos put the Bucs back in front and the two teams took turns with the lead over the next four minutes until back to back threes from the Pioneers put Indian River up 28-23 with under 9:00 remaining in the half.  The Bucs were clicking on their side of the floor, but Indian River simply couldn't miss as they held their five point advantage into the break at 45-40. 

 

If you looked at FSW's first half numbers by themselves, you would have thought the Bucs were up double digits at the break as FSW shot 49% from the field and 55% from the three point line while turning the ball over just three times in the first 20 minutes.  However, it wasn't a one sided box score as the Pioneers shot a blistering 70% overall and an almost unbelievable 73% from deep, hitting on 8 of 11 three point attempts. 

 

The break didn't slow the Pioneers down as Indian River scored nine points in the first 2:02 of the second half to take their first double digit lead of the night at 54-43. A driving layup from Marcus Niblack stopped the Pioneer momentum and slowly the Bucs worked their way back into the game, getting back to within two at 56-54 with 13:58 to go as Jordan Mitchell knifed through the lane for two. Indian River pushed the lead back to 10, but FSW didn't go away as Kaiyem Cleary drilled back to back threes, slicing the Pioneer lead back down to just three at 73-70 with 5:13 to go.  The Bucs couldn't get a stop to give themselves a chance to tie it and never threatened again as Indian River went back up by as many as 11 in the closing moments before dribbling out a 90-82 win.  

 

Again, on any other night, the Bucs should have won with the numbers they put up in the contest, shooting 48% from the field and an even 50% from three on the day while registering 17 assists to just 7 turnovers in the contest.  The Pioneers were just a tick better though, hitting on 58% from the field and 55% from three while outscoring the Bucs by eight at the free throw line by going 21-32.  

 

Niblack finished with 19 points in the contest while Cleary had his second straight solid effort with 18 off the FSW bench.

 

FSW falls to 24-6 with the loss while Indian River ups their record to 28-3 and advances to the FCSAA State Championship Game for the second straight season, again matching up with the Chipola Indians in a rematch of the 2021 title game. 

 

The Bucs will now hope that what they did during the regular season was enough to earn one of eight at-large bids to the NJCAA National Tournament which will be announced on Sunday.  The question will not necessarily be whether or not the Bucs are one of the eight best non-district winners, but whether they are one of the top three teams in Florida, as NJCAA rules stipulate a maximum of three teams from a single district can participate in the National Tournament, meaning one of the Sunshine State's four Top 15 ranked teams will be left at home Sunday.