FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers led the Daytona State Falcons by five midway through the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon in Suncoast Credit Union Arena, but they managed just one field goal over the final five minutes of the game as Daytona erased the Bucs lead and went ahead for a 64-61 win to stun FSW in Citrus Conference action. 

 

It was a back and forth affair early on as the Bucs jumped out to an early 7-4 lead before a 6-0 burst by Daytona put the Falcons in front by three with 3:04 to go in the period. Daytona pushed their lead to six before a late flurry by FSW led by Roksana Sajdak level the score at 14 at the end of one quarter of action. 

 

The Bucs carried their momentum over into the second as they outscored the Falcons 10-4 to begin the period to take a 24-18 lead with 7:17 to go in the half as Sarah Owona connected from downtown. Daytona found their footing and went on a 7-1 run of their own to cut the Bucs lead to just one at 26-25 midway through the quarter. Both teams were stagnant from there as they managed just one field goal a side over the final five minutes of the half with FSW holding a 32-27 lead as they went to the locker rooms at the half. 

 

Kiana Wilson nailed a jumper to give the Bucs their largest lead of the game at seven with 1:40 into the third and an Ashley Lester transition bucket kept FSW up six later in the period at 45-39 with 2:30 to go in the quarter. Another Daytona run to close the quarter whittled the Bucs down to just one as the teams went to the fourth with FSW clinging to a one point lead 46-45 with 10 minutes to go. 

 

After trading the lead a couple of times early in the fourth, an offensive rebound by the Bucs and ensuing lay in from Ivy Brown had FSW on top 56-51 with 5:05 remaining in the contest. The Bucs went scoreless over the next two minutes as their lead disappeared and Daytona tied things up and the game remained tied at 58 as the clock ticked under three minutes to play. Daytona got the next two buckets to take a four point lead with under two minutes left and went up by five at 64-59 on a pair of free throws with 49 seconds remaining. Wilson scored on the Bucs next trip down the floor to make it a three point game and FSW got a break when the Falcons missed  a pair of free throws with 27 seconds remaining, but the Bucs never got a good look in their final possession, ultimately falling 64-61. 

 

The Bucs shot under 40% from the field for the third straight game at 38% while going just 3-19 (16%) from the three point line in the loss. Wilson led the way with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 steals for FSW while Brown scored a career high 15 points and had 6 rebounds off the Buccaneer bench. 

 

The Falcons win tightens things up in the middle of the Citrus Conference standings as FSW falls to 13-11 overall and 9-7 in conference play while Daytona improves to 15-11 overall and 8-9 in league action.  

 

The Bucs will look to get things going back in the right direction on Wednesday when they return home to host St. Petersburg in a 5 PM tip from Suncoast Credit Union Arena.