Posted: Jan 15, 2022
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The #16 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers shot 60% from the field and five different players scored in double figures as they breezed past the visiting Miami Dade Sharks 95-73 in their Southern Conference opener Saturday afternoon in Suncoast Credit Union Arena.
Playing for the first time in 11 days, it took the Bucs a while to knock the rust off early on as they found themselves tied at 11 with the Sharks seven minutes into the first half. An offensive rebound and dunk from Bryant Selebangue put them ahead by two and they never trailed again. A 7-0 burst a few minutes later upped the Bucs lead to a dozen at 31-19 with 6:10 to go in the half. FSW caught fire as the half would down, scoring 10 points in the final 2:30, including a highlight reel alley-oop from Marcus Niblack to Selebangue to give the Bucs a 48-28 lead as the teams went to the break at the half.
The halftime break didn't slow the Bucs down as they scored the first six points of the second to take their largest lead of the game at 54-28 three minutes in. Kaiyem Cleary found Jonathan Dos Anjos for a slam with 13:30 to go to keep the Bucs up 20 and Dos Anjos returned the favor to Cleary moments later to keep the Bucs in control, leading 74-51 with just under six minutes remaining. The teams went back and forth over the final six minutes, but the Sharks never threatened a comeback as FSW closed Miami Dade out 95-73 at the final buzzer.
FSW shot 60% from the field in the win and connected on 48% from downtown, going 11-23 from three. Five players scored in double figures for the Purple and Aqua, led by Dos Anjos who went for 19 on 8-10 shooting and Niblack who had 17 as well as 6 assists in the win. Selebangue secured his sixth straight double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes of work.
The Bucs have won nine straight dating back to mid-November, improving to 14-2 in the process while Miami Dade falls to 8-9 overall and 0-2 in Southern Conference play.
FSW will take the floor again Monday at home against Hillsborough at 2:00 PM in a makeup game for last Saturday's postponed contest with the Hawks.
