FORT MYERS, Fla.- After needing a furious late game comeback on Friday to earn a win, the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers were not in the mood for a repeat Saturday afternoon in Suncoast Credit Union Arena, starting hot and finishing hot in a 105-47 blowout of the visiting Elgin Spartans to close out the 2023 FSW Classic in Fort Myers. 

 

The action was good both ways early on as the Bucs and Spartans traded baskets to 11-10 at the under 15 timeout in the first.  A three from Jalen Wenger put FSW up four and triples from Makeer Makeer and Ahmed Soumahoro stretched the lead to double digits for the first time. Dezdrick Lindsay found Yvens Paul for a two handed slam to up the Bucs lead to 32-13 later in the half and FSW wouldn't stop there, outscoring the Spartans 20-5 to close the half, blowing the game wide open to 52-18 at the break. 

 

FSW shot 45% from beyond the arc in the period while turning the ball over just three times and on the other side of the court held Elgin to just seven first half field goals and 24% shooting.  

 

There was no relenting as the second half got under way as AJ Hopkins joined the three point party with a deep ball to make it 62-26 and moments later a huge putback dunk from Reis Jones made it 67-30 FSW.  With the game well in hand late, the Bucs caught fire from downtown as Ahmed Soumahoro drained threes on three consecutive possessions to balloon the lead to 97-44.  The only question left was if or when the Bucs would hit the century mark and it didn't take long to answer it as Cole Franklin buried one from distance the next time down the court for FSW to push the Bucs to triple digits and FSW went on to win it 105-47. 

 

The stat sheet was as lopsided as the score as FSW shot 46% overall and 41% from three while Elgin shot just 28% overall and 21% from distance.  The Bucs finished with 21 assists and just 7 turnovers while the Spartans were nearly the inverse with 9 assists and 19 giveaways. 

 

Six Bucs scored in double figures led by Soumahoro who poured in a career high 21 in just 18 minutes of action.  Wenger also made the most of his minutes off the FSW bench, adding 15 on 5-9 from three. 

 

FSW improves to 7-3 on the year with the victory while Elgin falls to 1-10. 

 

The Bucs will have two more tests before the holiday break as they travel to the panhandle next weekend where they will take on Gulf Coast State on Friday at 7:30 before meeting up with Tallahassee in a noon start on Saturday.