FORT MYERS, Fla.- The top two scoring teams in the state of Florida hooked up Wednesday night in Suncoast Credit Union Arena as the #15 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers hosted the #22 Indian State Pioneers in Southern Conference action.  The game lived up to its billing as the Bucs and Pioneers combined for 193 points in an up and down affair, but unfortunately for FSW, Indian River was too much in the end, going 8-10 from three point land in the second half to pull away and then hang on for a 98-95 win to hand the Bucs their first home conference loss in program history.  

 

The Bucs got off to a good start, scoring the first five points of the game before stretching their lead out to 11-3 four minutes in.  A triple from Terry Roberts at the 13 minute mark pushed the Bucs lead to nine and they held that to the midway point of the half at 29-20.  The highlight of the first half for the Bucs came with just under 8 minutes to go when Roberts came up with a big block on the defensive end before pushing the ball up the court to Kario Oquendo who threw a perfect alley oop to Jaden Campbell for a one handed slam to give the Bucs a 34-24 lead.  It was tough sledding for the Bucs from there though as Indian River cut the FSW lead to just two on a 14-6 run and FSW was forced to settle for a three point lead at the break 44-41.  

 

The action was back and forth to start the second half as Jonathan Dos Anjos grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to keep the Bucs up three 51-48. Indian River tied the score at 61 with a three moments later and the battle was on.  The Bucs and Pioneers traded the lead back and forth to a 73-73 deadlock with 8:57 to go before a 10-0 run from Indian River gave the Pioneers their largest lead of the game with 6:19 remaining.  The Bucs remained down nine with 3:39 to go and it looked like they were all but left for dead when they made one last push to get back into the game.  A 9-2 run, led by Dos Anjos and Oquendo drew the Bucs back to within two at 92-20 with 1:51 to go.  FSW got a turnover and had a point blank shot to tie it with just over a minute left, but it rimmed off to keep the Pioneers in front by two.  An FSW foul put the Pioneers on the line and Indian River cashed both from the stripe to push their lead to four.  The Bucs were forced to play the fouling game late and Indian River was able to extend their lead to six with 11 seconds to go.  A three from Oquendo with 5 seconds left made it a one possession game and the Bucs got a steal on the Pioneers inbounds pass and had a chance to tie it, but it rimmed off as Indian River held on to win 98-95.  

 

Both teams shot well in the game as FSW connected on an even 50% from the field and Indian River 46% overall and 48% from downtown.  The big difference came at the free throw line where Indian River made 20 of 28 and FSW made just 4 of 9 on the night.  Three Bucs topped the 20 point mark in the defeat as Oquendo led the way with 25 and Campbell scored 23 while Dos Anjos was big in the paint with 22 points, 14 rebounds, and 4 blocked shots.  

 

The loss is a devastating one for the Bucs chances for a Southern Conference Championship as FSW falls to 16-3 overall and more importantly 8-2 in conference action while Indian River now controls their own destiny at 15-2 overall and 9-2 in conference play. To win their fourth straight league title, the Bucs have to win each of their two remaining games, Saturday at Miami Dade and Monday at home vs. State College of Florida, and have Miami Dade beat Indian River Monday in Fort Pierce.  Any other combination and the Bucs will be forced to settle for the two seed from the Southern Conference for the upcoming FCSAA State Tournament.