GAINESVILLE, Fla.- The #3 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers were stunned 83-81 by Santa Fe Saturday afternoon in Gainesville. FSW got off to a dreadful start before battling back to take a halftime lead, but the Saints finished strong, taking a lead in the final minute and hanging on to shock the Bucs in their first road contest of the 2021-2022 season. 

 

Santa Fe came out swinging, scoring the first 13 points of the game to send the Bucs into a daze four minutes in. FSW finally got a bucket on the board, but the Saints got the next two to stretch their lead to 15 moments later.  It was 22-9 when FSW started to get things clicking and mount their comeback.  A finish in the paint by Bryant Selebangue cut it to a single digit lead for the Saints and a smooth dish from Jordan Mitchell to Justin Archer with 4:31 remaining in the half made it a one possession game at 31-29.  The Bucs tied the score with a pair of free throws with 30 seconds left on the clock and Mitchell beat the buzzer with a jumper to give FSW a 43-40 advantage as the teams went to the break at the half. 

 

Just like the first half, the Bucs had trouble coming out of the locker room after the break as Santa Fe scored 12 of the first 15 points of the period to erase the Bucs lead and take a 54-46 lead of their own with 17:01 to go. The Bucs looked like they were in trouble as Santa Fe upped their lead to double digits at the midway point of the half.  FSW kept fighting though, using a 9-0 run, led by six straight points from Archer to knot the game up at 65 with 6:54 remaining. The teams went back and forth, remaining tied five minutes later at 80 with just over a minute remaining on the clock.  A pair of Archer free throws put the Bucs back in front, but a Santa Fe jumper leveled the score once again. The Saints went back in front by one and the Bucs drove down the court looking for a bucket and a lead of their own, but turned the ball over and would have to settle for a desperation shot at the buzzer that was off the mark, falling 83-81 to send the Saints rushing onto the court in victory. 

 

Kaiyem Cleary posted a 14 point, 10 rebound double-double off the FSW bench while Jonathan Dos Anjos led the Purple and Aqua with 19 points in the loss.  Mitchell struggled shooting at just 2-11, but dished out a game high 9 assists and had 6 steals.  

 

FSW drops to 1-1 on the year while Santa Fe improves to 3-0.  

 

The Bucs return home on Tuesday when they host old Suncoast Conference rival St. Petersburg in a 7 PM tip from Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers.