FORT MYERS, Fla.- Kaiyem Cleary scored 21 and Klein Alexandre chipped in 14 as the #17 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers cruised to a 75-66 win over the Miami Dade Sharks Saturday afternoon in Suncoast Credit Union Arena in Fort Myers.
The Bucs were locked in from the opening tip as they came out firing from all angles against the Sharks, opening up a 15-9 lead just five minutes into the contest. FSW extended their lead to double digits midway through the period when Kaiyem Cleary drilled a three from the corner and padded their lead to 19 at 38-19 with 5:46 left until the half. The Sharks cut into the Bucs lead before the half, but at the break it was still FSW out in front comfortably 43-29.
Miami Dade hung around, but the Bucs never let them get too close early in the second half as FSW held its 14 point advantage to 51-37 with 13:19 remaining when Klein Alexandre raced the length of the court for an easy two on the break. A tough play on the inside from Phillip Smith stretched the Bucs lead to 20 with under 10:00 to go, but Miami Dade made one last push, getting all the way back to within eight before Cleary's fourth triple of the game ended any hope of a Shark comeback with just over a minute left to play. A late three made the score more respectable for the Sharks, but the Bucs led it wire to wire before dribbling out a 75-66 win.
The Bucs shot 47% from the field in the win and turned it over only 9 times. Cleary led the way with 21 points on 5-9 shooting for FSW and also led the Bucs in rebounding with 8 in the win. Alexandre added 14 on 5-7 shooting and posted a team best +17 in the +/- category.
FSW improves to 21-5 overall and 8-3 in Southern Conference play with the win while Miami Dade drops to 10-16 overall and 2-9 in league play.
The Bucs take the floor one more time in conference action on Tuesday when they travel to Bradenton to take on State College of Florida before hosting Pasco-Hernando in a postseason tune-up next Thursday in Suncoast Arena.