Posted: Feb 17, 2024
FORT MYERS, Fla.- Despite dressing just eight players for their Citrus Conference contest Saturday afternoon against Polk State, the #25 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers shot 53% from the field and 48% from the three point line, flying past the Eagles 88-72 for their 20th straight win in the series against Polk.
The Bucs came out hot right from the tip as Karmani Gregory and Tyrone Baker nailed back to back threes early on before a 6-0 run for Baker by himself put FSW up 20-10 eight minutes into the contest. AJ Hopkins got into the act with a pair of threes of his own to make it 33-18 FSW with 8:39 to go in the half. The Bucs remained dialed in as Gregory hit another triple and Hopkins made his third of the half to give FSW a 46-34 lead at the break.
Any hope from the Eagles that the halftime break was going to slow the Bucs down was dashed right away as the second half got underway as Baker connected from distance immediately out of the break and a jumper from Ahmed Soumahoro less than a minute later had the FSW lead all the way to 19 in the blink of an eye. A big dunk from Bachir Camara padded the Bucs lead to 20 for the first time in the game with 15:15 remaining and FSW remained up big until a burst from Polk trimmed the lead to just 13 at 69-56 with 7:44 to go. Hopkins drained a big three to cushion the lead back to 16 and the Eagles never threatened again as FSW dribbled out an 88-72 win at the final horn to send the home crowd home happy.
The Bucs shot 53% overall in the contest while hitting on 48% from the three point line. Baker led four Bucs in double figures with a 21 point, 10 rebound double-double while Gregory and Soumahoro both added 19 for FSW. Camara finished with 7 points and 8 rebounds in his first home start as a Buc.
FSW improves to 19-6 overall and 9-2 in Citrus Conference play with the win, getting some help from Indian River who knocked off Eastern Florida to put the Bucs even with the Titans in the loss column for second place in the league standings. Polk falls to 12-14 overall and 3-9 in league play where they are now two full games out of the sixth and final postseason spot out of the Citrus Conference.
The Bucs will look to run their win streak to three on Wednesday when they are back home in Suncoast Arena for a 7 PM tip against St. Petersburg in conference action.