Posted: Dec 10, 2022
MELBOURNE, Fla.- The Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers went on the road to Melbourne and the Florida Juco Shootout and drilled the host Eastern Florida State Titans 82-61 Saturday night, getting 20 points from Bradley Douglas and an eighth straight double-double from Tyson Brown in their seventh consecutive victory.
Early on, the Bucs pounded the ball inside to Tyson Brown and Wesley Oba, getting six straight points in the paint to jump out to an early 14-6 lead. An alley oop from Jordan Mitchell to Jemal Davis at the midway point of the half stretched the Bucs lead to nine at 20-11 and they took their first double digit lead of the night at 32-22 with 4:00 to go as Bradley Douglas finished at the tin. The Bucs went cold to close the half as Eastern came flying back to erase FSW's lead before Mitchell got one to go before the first half horn to put the Bucs back up 36-35 as the teams went to the break.
The Bucs ratcheted up the intensity defensively early in the second half, forcing a number of Titan turnovers and turning them into points to push their lead back to double figures at 48-37. Back to back threes from Jadrian Tracey ballooned the lead to 17 and Dezdrick Lindsay finished an old fashioned three point play off to give FSW their first 20 point lead of the night at 64-44 with 8:00 to go. Eastern never threatened from there as the Titans had no answer for the Bucs multifaceted attack and FSW finished things off 82-61 for their seventh straight win.
The Bucs hit on 47% from the field and 44% from the three point line while holding Eastern to just 40% shooting and forcing 23 Titan turnovers. Douglas scored a game high 20 against his old Mid-Florida rivals while Brown recorded his eighth straight double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
The Bucs win their seventh straight to improve to 8-3 on the year after a slow start while Eastern Florida drops to 9-3 with the defeat.
The Bucs will face their toughest test of the season on Sunday in Melbourne when they square off with the 3rd ranked and undefeated Chipola Indians in a 2:30 PM matinee start in Titan Field House.