Posted: Feb 22, 2022
BRADENTON, Fla.- It wasn't always pretty for the #14 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers Tuesday night on the road in their 2022 Southern Conference finale against State College of Florida, but a grinding effort and a pair of late threes from Jonathan Dos Anjos led the Bucs to their 19th consecutive win over the Manatees, 66-63 to improve to 22-5 on the year.
The first 10 minutes of the first half were a microcosm of what was to come for the final 30 as nothing was easy for the Bucs or the Manatees with FSW leading the contest just 11-10 midway through the period. Kaiyem Cleary scored on the break to put the Bucs up 18-12 with 6:30 to go in the half, but SCF was able to trim FSW's lead to just one at 27-26 at the end of 20 minutes of action.
SCF came out of the break hot, taking a six point lead on the Bucs early in the second half. The Bucs worked their way back into the game and drew to within three before a triple from Cleary knotted the score at 40 with 13:00 to go. The Manatees retook the lead and held the advantage for the next eight minutes until a wing three from Jonathan Dos Anjos put the Bucs back in front 60-59 with just under 2:00 remaining on the clock. On the Bucs next possession Dos Anjos sank another triple, but this time was fouled in the process, turning it into a rare four point play to all but finish the Manatees chances for a comeback. A missed free throw by the Bucs with 3.5 seconds left gave SCF a chance to tie it with a half court heave at the buzzer, but the Hail Mary was well off the mark and the Bucs hung on to win it 66-63.
The Bucs shot a mundane 44% from the field in the win and managed to hit on just 9 of 15 from the free throw line. Bryant Selebangue and Kaiyem Cleary both notched double-doubles in the win as Selebangue went for 15 points and 13 rebounds while Cleary had 16 points and 11 boards. Dos Anjos finished with 16 for the Bucs in the win including seven in the final two minutes.
The Bucs win their third straight to improve to 22-5 overall on the season while wrapping up Southern Conference play at 9-3, good for a second place finish. SCF sees their season come to an end at 14-16 overall and 3-9 in conference play.
FSW will be back in action one final time in the regular season on Thursday when they host Pasco-Hernando at 7 PM on Fan Appreciation Night in Suncoast Arena with admission free for all fans.