Posted: Feb 26, 2023
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers closed the regular season in style Saturday afternoon in Suncoast Credit Union Arena, jumping out to a big early lead and hanging on late for an 89-82 win over the visiting Hillsborough Hawks to punch their ticket for the upcoming NJCAA Region VIII Tournament.
In front of a big Sophomore Day crowd in Suncoast Credit Union Arena, it was all FSW early on as the Bucs drilled a three on their first possession and scored the game's first seven points to begin the contest. They continued to push as they stretched their lead to 10 at 14-4 on a three from Dezdrick Lindsay and opened up a 21-4 lead moments later as Jordan Mitchell nailed a step back jumper with 12:09 to go in the first. The Bucs controlled the pace through the middle portion of the period, pushing their lead to 19 at 35-16 on a finish on the inside from Jemal Davis with 5:57 to go in the half. Hillsborough cut into the lead before the break, but it was still all FSW after 20 minutes as the Bucs led it 47-33.
The Bucs did not get off to the start they were looking to in the second half as Hillsborough had FSW's lead whittled down to just three at 49-46 in the blink of an eye. A pull up three from Jadrian Tracey put the Bucs back up six and an old fashioned three point play from Lindsay with 11:28 to go stretched the lead back to double digits at 62-52. Tracey finished an and-one with 5:24 remaining to put the Bucs up 13 and it looked like FSW was going to coast to the finish line, but the Hawks wouldn't go away, slicing into the Bucs lead and making it a one possession game at 81-78 with 2:04 to go. A big drive and score from Tracey in traffic got momentum back on the Bucs stide and they were able to finish the game at the free throw line, going up by as many as eight in the final minute before finishing off an 89-82 win to punch their ticket to the postseason.
Lindsay scored a career high 27 in the win while Tracey finished with 18 and Tyson Brown notched a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
FSW clinches their spot in the Region VIII Tournament with the win as the #2 seed from the Southern Conference as they claim their sixth straight win to improve to 20-8 on the year while finishing conference play at 7-5. Hillsborough's season comes to an end at 16-13 overall and 2-10 in conference play.
The Bucs will now have some time to rest and recover from a physical finish to the season as they won't see the court again until March 9th in Niceville for the Region VIII Tournament. Tournament seeding and pairing will take place on Thursday, so stay tuned to @FSWBucs on social media or FSWBucs.com on the web for updates.