OCALA, Fla. – The FSW men's basketball team fell short of a big upset, dropping a hard-fought 84-82 games to No. 3 Northwest Florida State in the quarterfinals of the 2017 FCSAA/NJCAA District VIII Men's Basketball Championship on Thursday night.
The Bucs had a couple contested looks inside of 15-feet to grab the lead with less than 30 seconds to play but came up empty, then after NWFL split a pair at the line, the Bucs' potential game-winning triple rattled out as time expired.
With the loss, the Purple and Aqua finish the 2016-17 season with a 26-7 overall record. Head coach Marty Richter and the Bucs secured FSW's first berth to the FCSAA/NJCAA District VIII Men's Basketball Championship in just the program's first year of existence, and had to win a 4-team Suncoast Conference Tournament to do so.
FSW (26-7) held a 48-41 lead at halftime over Northwest Florida (27-2), but the 2015 NJCAA National Champs and top seed in the 8-team FCSAA/NJCAA District VIII Men's Basketball Championship used a 15-2 run to start the second half and take a 56-52 advantage in the second half.
FSW never wavered and used a full-court press to turn NWFL over on multiple occasions. Tyler Cheese picked up a steal and went coast-to-coast for a layup to give the Bucs a 78-76 lead with less than three minutes remaining.
After a Raiders 3-pointer put NWFL ahead 79-78, freshman Tremell Murphy scored on a put-back layup put FSW ahead 80-79.
Northwest scored on a transition layup with 1:18 left (80-79), and FSW was unable to get a call from the refs or score inside on its next two trips and trailed 83-80 with 19 seconds left.
After Nych Smith drove the length of the court and crossed up his defender before getting to the basket for an easy score, Northwest turned the ball over again against full-court pressure. FSW missed a contested turn around on the block before the Raiders added a free throw with 5.1 seconds left.
Smith took the outlet and raced down the court before getting off a great look from three-point range, but it didn't fall and the Bucs took the 84-82 loss.
Smith led all scorers with 23 points in 34 minutes of action. Shanquan Hemphill had a solid game, finishing with 18 points, five boards and four steals. Tremell Murphy added 15 points and eight rebounds, while Tyler Cheese was big off the bench, registering 11 points, six rebounds and a pair of assists. Anthony Murphy chipped in with eight points, eight boards, four assists, three steals and a pair of blocks.
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SUNCOAST CREDIT UNION ARENA
The Buccaneers compete in the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena. Suncoast Credit Union Arena is approximately 75,000 square feet and is home to the Buccaneers' basketball and volleyball teams, and a student athletic center. The arena seats approximately 3,300 fans and includes six skyboxes, a hospitality event center, competition courts that convert into recreational courts, athletic office space, student, faculty and staff wellness, and an athletic center with a fitness pavilion, men's and women's locker rooms and a weight training area. The arena has two Daktronics displays, on the north and south walls, that each measure 10 feet high by 20 feet wide. Both displays incorporate variable content zoning to each show one large image or they can be divided into multiple windows to show any variety of live video, instant replays, up-to-the-minute statistics, graphics and animations, and sponsorship messages. One-hundred feet of ribbon displays have been installed on the east and west walls of the arena. The ribbons provide the opportunity to supplement the content on the main displays as well as highlight sponsors throughout events.
FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN
The Florida SouthWestern State College athletic program is a member of the Florida College System Athletic Association (FCSAA) and the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). The Buccaneers are one of 25 schools in the NJCAA Region 8 and are one of six schools in the Suncoast Conference. Florida SouthWestern State College currently supports four intercollegiate athletic programs (Baseball, Softball, Men's Basketball, Women's Basketball), with Volleyball coming in the fall of 2017.
Baseball and Softball began their regular season competition in 2016 at the City of Palms Park in Fort Myers. Located on the Thomas Edison (Lee) Campus in Fort Myers will be the brand new Suncoast Credit Union Arena (completed in fall 2016), where FSW's men's and women's basketball and volleyball teams will compete.
THE NJCAA
The movement to form a unique sports association dedicated to America's two-year colleges arose in 1937 when several track and field coaches gathered in Fresno, California. A year later, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) rejected a petition from 13 two-year colleges in California to grant their teams and athletes permission to compete at the NCAA Track & Field Championships.
In the spring of 1938, following the NCAA's rejection, those same 13 two-year colleges gathered again in Fresno to organize and form an association that would promote and supervise a national athletics program exclusively for junior and community colleges…and the rest is history.
On May 14, 1938, the first constitution of the National Junior College Athletic Association was accepted by its charter members and the organization held its first national championship event a year later in May 1939.
The NJCAA has played a vital role in collegiate athletics for the past eight decades and continues to be the leader in championing academic and athletic opportunities for student-athletes. This section of the association's website is dedicated to celebrating the NJCAA's rich history and tradition as the national governing body of two-year college athletics.
For more information on the NJCAA log on to www.NJCAA.org.
THE FCSAA
The Florida College System Activities Association, Incorporated (FCSAA) is a statewide non‑profit corporation regulating, coordinating, and promoting intercollegiate activities in: Athletics, Brain Bowl, Forensics, Music, Student Government, Student Publications, and Theatre.
Membership in the Florida College System Activities Association is open to any of the 28 colleges in the Florida College System. Each member institution is represented in the policy‑making deliberations of the Association through that institution's President or other designated representative. The institutional representatives constitute the FCSAA Presidents Assembly, the ultimate authority in FCSAA.
For more information on the FCSAA log on to www.TheFCSAA.com.
NJCAA REGION 8, THE SUNCOAST CONFERENCE & THE SOUTHERN CONFERENCE
Member colleges of the NJCAA are allotted to a specific NJCAA Region upon membership to the association. Unlike other collegiate organizations that defer to conference affiliation, the NJCAA guarantees each member college's membership within the regional structure of the association. In most cases, region assignment is based upon geographic location of the college.
The region structure of the NJCAA is the primary method used by all sponsored sports of the association in determining qualification for national championship tournaments. In certain sports, two or more regions are partnered to form a competition 'district', which is then used for national championship qualification. The organization of districts varies per sport and is formulated every two years under the authority of the association's board of directors.
FSW is in Region 8 and is joined by ASA College Miami (Region 8 only; non-FCSAA member), Broward College, Chipola College, College of Central Florida, Daytona State College, Eastern Florida State College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Gulf Coast State College, Hillsborough Community College, Indian River State College, Lake-Sumter State College, Miami Dade College, Northwest Florida State College, Palm Beach State College, Pasco-Hernando State College, Pensacola State College, Polk State College, Santa Fe College, Seminole State College of Florida, South Florida State College, St. Johns River State College, St. Petersburg College, State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota and Tallahassee Community College.
The Bucs are also in the Suncoast Conference with Hillsborough Community College, Polk State College, South Florida State College, St. Petersburg College and State College of Florida Manatee-Sarasota.
The women's basketball program is Southern Conference with Broward College, Eastern Florida State College, Indian River State College, Miami Dade College and Palm Beach State College.
For more information on Region 8 log on to www.TheFCSAASports.com.