NICEVILLE, Fla.- For the fourth time this season, the #25 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers and the #17 Indian River State Pioneers went head to head on the hardwood Friday night at the FCSAA State Tournament in Niceville. Also for the fourth time, the contest went down to the wire.  Unfortunately for FSW, it was Indian River squeaking out a 74-71 victory, ending the Bucs run at the tournament and putting them squarely on the bubble in their hopes for an at-large bid to the NJCAA National Tournament. 

 

For the second straight night, the Bucs got off to a slow start offensively, managing just one field goal through the first 5:17 of action.    Indian River led it 13-9 as the teams hit the 12:00 mark of the first half, but a three from Kario Oquendo and a jumper from Rhyjon Blackwell put the Bucs back in front at the midway point of the period. They went back and forth to an 18-17 FSW lead, but the Bucs went ice cold from there, going without a bucket for the next 4:23 as the Pioneers went on a 7-0 run to take a 24-18 lead with 3:30 remaining.  The Bucs and Pioneers traded baskets from there to the end of the half as Indian River went to the break leading it 34-28. 

 

The Bucs looked like they were in trouble as the Pioneers pushed their lead to 10 at 40-30 early in the second.  Enter Kaiyem Cleary.  Seeing his first action in five games, Cleary came in off the Bucs bench and gave FSW an instant jolt, drilling back to back threes to quickly get the Bucs back to within four and finishing at the rim moments later to make it a three point game at 42-39. An old fashioned three point play from Terry Roberts knotted the game at 42 and a steal and slam from Jaden Campbell gave the Bucs their first lead of the half at 44-42 with 12:14 remaining.  The battled continued as they again went back and forth, taking turns sharing the lead until they found themselves tied up at 53 with 9:19 to go. A pair of free throws from Jonathan Dos Anjos gave the Bucs a one point advantage at the under seven media timeout, but the Pioneers scored the next seven to push back in front 65-59. The Bucs worked their way back into it and got to within two on a finish by Cameron Stitt with 1:33 to go before Indian River sunk a pair of free throws to make it a two possession game once again at 72-68 with 44 seconds left. A huge three from Campbell got FSW back to within one and they decided to play the clock out with a six second differential on the game clock and shot clock with 36 seconds remaining.  The Bucs stayed solid on the defensive end for 28 seconds before being whistled for a foul on a last second attempt to beat the shot clock for the Pioneers, sending Indian River to the line for a pair.  They hit both tries and a desperation shot for the Bucs at the buzzer was off the mark as the Pioneers escaped with a 74-71 win to end FSW's run at the tourney. 

 

FSW shot 52% from the field in the second half to salvage a 42% shooting effort in the game.  Oquendo led the Bucs with 16 off the bench while Campbell had 15 on 5 of 8 shooting.  Cleary had 13, all in the second half, in 17 minutes of work and Roberts just missed a double-double with 12 points, and nine assists.  

 

The Bucs fall to 18-5 on the year with the loss while Indian River will take an 18-2 mark into Saturday's State Championship game against Chipola. 

 

FSW's fate now lies in the hands of the NJCAA at-large committee who will determine Sunday whether the Bucs 2021 resume is enough to send them to their fourth straight National Tournament, or if their campaign will come to a close.