FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #19 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers turned in their best defensive effort of the early season Friday night in Suncoast Credit Union Arena against #20 Snow, holding the Badgers to just 33% shooting and 53 points in a 67-53 victory to improve to 5-1 on the season. 

 

Early on it was Snow that was the aggressors, jumping out to a 13-8 lead seven minutes into the action. A drive and score from Marcus Niblack and a three from Cameron Stitt tied the score at 15 at the midway point of the half.  With just over 5:00 remaining in the half, Bryant Selebangue ripped down a rebound and outletted a pass to Jordan Mitchell who drove the length of the court for two to start an 8-0 run for FSW to open up their largest lead of the first half at 27-18. The Badgers got a bucket with 1:11 to go in the half to stop a  5:14 scoreless drought, but at the break the Bucs had a seven point cushion, leading it 27-20. 

 

The first half stat sheet probably won't be found in anyone's scrapbook any time soon as both teams shot just 29% from the field and FSW went 2-11 from three while Snow hit on just 1-9 from beyond the arc. 

 

A steal and score from Blackwell early in the second half, followed by an old fashioned three point play by Kaiyem Cleary quickly stretched the Bucs lead to a dozen at 32-20.  Snow trimmed the Bucs lead back down to single digits with 13:36 to go in the ballgame, but FSW scored the next five to swiftly cushion it back to 14 at 45-31 as the clock ticked under 10:00 remaining.  Snow never threatened again as FSW kept the Badgers at bay all night offensively while padding their lead to as many as 18 in the second half before finally finishing Snow off 67-53 at the final horn.  

 

The Bucs kept Snow nearly 40 points under their early season average of 91.3 points per game while holding the Badgers to just 33% shooting on the night and just 2-24 from deep.  Selebangue and Johnathan Dos Anjos posted double-doubles for the Bucs as Selebangue finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds while Dos Anjos put up 12 points and 10 boards in the win. 

 

FSW improves to 5-1 on the season with the victory while Snow suffers its first defeat of the year to fall to 4-1. 

 

The Bucs are back home Saturday when they take on Spartanburg Methodist in a 2 PM tip from Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers.  At halftime of the game, the Bucs Softball team will receive their 2021 NJCAA National Championship rings in a celebration of their accomplishments of last season.