Posted: Feb 01, 2024
FORT MYERS, Fla.- In a game that resembled an amusement park roller coaster ride, the #20 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers outlasted the Indian River State Pioneers 97-93 in a thrilling affair Wednesday night in Suncoast Credit Union Arena.
The state's top scoring team came out firing on all cylinders, as Indian River took it to the Bucs to the tune of a 7-0 lead just 1:15 into the game. The Pioneers held the seven point advantage to 16-9 when a coast to coast drive from Cole Franklin got the Bucs on the right track and started an unbelievable run into the half. Back to back buckets from Dezdrick Lindsay tied the score and then put FSW ahead at the 14:09 mark and a pair of threes from the Bucs sophomore made it 26-18. Tyrone Baker climbed the elevator for a huge slam to pad the Bucs lead to 13 moments later and Lindsay followed suit to give FSW a 43-25 lead with 8:06 to go in the half. The Bucs didn't manage a field goal over the final 4:24 of the half, but they didn't need it as they cruised into the break leading the Pioneers 55-39.
FSW shot 54% from the field in the half while connecting on 45% from distance. Lindsay led all scorers with 20 first half points for the Buccaneers.
After carrying all of the momentum into the break, FSW found none of that as the second half began. Indian River outscored the Bucs 17-6 to start the second half, cutting FSW's 16 point lead down to just five at 61-56 six minutes into the period. AJ Hopkins and Cole Franklin nailed back to back threes against the Indian River zone to cushion the Bucs lead back to double digits, but the Pioneers just wouldn't go away, staying within striking distance until a 9-1 burst from the visitors emphatically tied the score at 91 with 1:25 remaining in regulation. On the next FSW possession Karmani Gregory found a way to get one to go in traffic to put the Bucs back on top and Indian River committed a turnover their next time down the court to give the ball right back to FSW with the lead. It looked like the Pioneers were going to get one last shot as the Bucs missed close in on a shot attempt, but Baker came through with a huge offensive rebound to turn the shot clock off and force Indian River to foul. Baker stepped to the free throw line and drilled both of his attempts to put the Bucs up four and FSW turned the Pioneers over again the next time down the floor and cashed it in for a layup to put the game on ice as they went on to win it 97-93.
Fans of offense got the show they wanted as FSW shot 51% on the night and Indian River shot 55% from the floor. The Bucs finished with 20 assists as a team while turning the ball over just 9 times.
Individually Lindsay led the way for FSW, putting up his second 30 point game of the season while Baker added 18 points and 8 rebounds and Hopkins chipped in 16.
The Bucs win their 10th straight to improve to 17-4 on the season while remaining unbeaten in Citrus Conference play at a perfect 7-0. Indian River falls to 16-4 overall with all four of their losses coming in conference action where they drop to 3-4.
The win by FSW sets up a showdown Saturday in Daytona as the Bucs hit the road for a huge matchup against 4th ranked Daytona State to close out the first round of Citrus Conference action.