ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.- If you play with fire enough, you will eventually get burned.  The #9 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers played with fire in each of their past three games and got out unscathed.  Friday on the road at St. Petersburg, they did it again, but unfortunately this time, they weren't able to pull it out, falling 76-64 to the Titans for their first loss of the 2021 season.  

 

An early 7-0 run for the Bucs staked them out to an 11-5 lead midway through the first quarter of action.  St. Petersburg closed the gap and eventually tied things up before a three pointer by Sheslanie Laureano with 12 seconds remaining in the period broke the tie and gave FSW an 18-15 lead after 10 minutes of action.  

 

The Bucs held the Titans without a field goal for the first 3:45 of the second, but unfortunately for them, they couldn't get anything going on the offensive end and extended their lead by just two during the stretch as it was a three point game, 22-19 with 6:15 to go in the half.  A drive and score from Tashun Bryson moments later pushed the FSW lead to seven, but it was all Titans from there as St. Pete closed the half on a 12-4 run to erase the Buccaneer lead and to take a 35-34 lead of their own into the break at half. 

 

FSW again stood tough on defense to begin the third, holding St. Pete without a bucket for over five minutes as they built a six point lead with 5:00 to go in the quarter.  St. Pete whittled away at the Buccaneer lead and tied the score at 46 with 3:15 to go in the third. The Bucs retook a lead late in the quarter, but a buzzer beater for the Titans gave St. Pete a 53-52 lead after three quarters of action.  

 

The fourth quarter was all St. Pete.  The Titans outscored FSW 13-0 from the 8:35 to the 4:03 mark of the fourth, opening up a 14 point lead with under four minutes to go in the contest.  The Bucs cut it to single digits on a basket from Patience Williams with just over two minutes remaining, but they wouldn't get any closer as the Titans finished off the upset 76-64 to hand FSW their first loss of the 2021 season.  

 

The Bucs struggled shooting at all three levels, shooting just 33% from the field, 50% from the free throw line, and 14% from three point land. Williams recorded her second straight double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds for FSW while Laureano had 20 points 7 assists, 7 rebounds, and 5 steals in the loss.  

 

FSW falls to 4-1 on the year with the loss while St. Pete improves to 5-1.  

 

The Bucs were scheduled to take on Hillsborough Saturday in Tampa, but the game was canceled due to Covid contact tracing in the Hawks program.  

 

Now FSW will see action next on Thursday when they host Morton on the front end of a Women's Basketball/Volleyball doubleheader in Suncoast Arena beginning at 4:00 PM.