Photo by Linwood Ferguson
Posted: Dec 14, 2019
FORT MYERS, Fla.- Za'Nautica Downs flirted with a triple-double and four other Bucs reached double figures in scoring as the #13 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers blew past the visiting Miami Dade Sharks 100-72 to earn their tenth win of the 2019-2020 season Saturday afternoon at Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers.
The Bucs got off to a quick start on the back of Za'Nautica Downs as she scored five early points and FSW scored the first seven points of the contest to take a 7-0 lead out of the gates. Things slowed down from there as Miami Dade went on a 12-3 run, erasing the Bucs lead and taking a 12-10 lead of their own midway through the quarter. A three from Cabria Lewis got FSW back on track and they would go on a 9-0 burst from there to take a 19-12 lead with three minutes left in the first. The Bucs continued to build on their advantage as a late three from Downs gave them a 24-16 lead after one.
Back to back threes early in the second by Sheslanie Laureano stretched the Bucs lead to a dozen and by the midway point of the period they led it by 15 as Ta'Shonna Wright Gaskins swished home an elbow jumper to make it 38-23. The teams played even from there, sending the Bucs to the locker room at half leading 42-28.
The Bucs weren't able to build on their lead early in the third, but continued to hold a comfortable lead at 49-34 three minutes into the quarter. FSW scored nine of the next 12, including another Laureano triple, to open up their largest lead to that point in the game at 58-37. Just when it looked like the Bucs were going to run away with it, the Sharks made their run, trimming the lead back to 14 before the end of the quarter at 66-52.
After pushing the lead to 18 early in the fourth, the Bucs stepped on the gas one final time and put the game away. A 14-2 run highlighted by a pair of threes from Downs and a pair of runout layups by the Bucs blew the game wide open in no time as FSW took an 89-59 lead with 4:54 to go in the game. With the game well in hand, the final excitement game with just seconds remaining on the clock as Adonne' Tillman stepped to the line for two shots and calmly knocked them both down to give the Bucs their 99th and 100th point of the game to seal up a 100-72 win, the Bucs sixth straight.
Downs finished a big night with 28 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists while Lewis added 19 points on 7 of 8 shooting, and Laureano pitched in 14 points and 8 rebounds for the victorious Bucs. On the defensive end, FSW held Miami Dade to just 35% shooting in the game while forcing 27 turnovers and turning them into 36 points.
The win is the sixth straight for FSW who improves to 10-4 on the year while sweeping the season series from the Sharks. Miami Dade falls to 9-6 on the year with the defeat.
FSW is back in action for the final time before the holiday break on Wednesday when they travel to Davie to take on Broward in a non-conference battle beginning at 4 PM.
