FORT MYERS, Fla.- It was a unique matchup Thursday afternoon in Suncoast Credit Union Arena as the #12 team in NJCAA's Division I, the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers, took on the #12 team in NJCAA's Division II, the Morton Panthers from Illinois. After being tied at 21 at the end of one, FSW dominated the final three quarters of action, pulling ahead for a 14 point lead at the half before going on to win 78-51 to improve to 5-1 on the season. 

 

Shaking off the snow of the Midwest for the sun of Southwest Florida, the Panthers got off to a hot start, jumping ahead 7-2 early in the first quarter. The Bucs came back to tie the score and then took a 9-7 lead of their own on a three from Sheslanie Laureano midway through the period.  A steal and score from Laureano put FSW up six later in the quarter, but Morton's hot shooting from the outside tied things up at 21 at the end of 10 minutes of play. 

 

The Bucs took the lead back early in the second on a bucket from Patience Williams, but Morton answered with a 7-2 run to give the Panthers a 30-25 lead with 6:00 remaining in the first half. From that point to the break, it was all, literally all, FSW.  An offensive rebound and score from Williams followed by a three from Macarena Retamales evened the score at 30 and started the Bucs on a 19-0 run to close the half to give them a 44-30 lead at the half.  

 

The halftime break didn't slow the Bucs down as they quickly came out of the locker rooms and opened up their first 20 point lead of the game as Laureano connected on back to back threes to make it 57-35 FSW with 4:27 to go in the third.  Morton cut into the lead over the next four minutes, but not much as a confident Bucs squad held a 63-43 lead at the end of three.  

 

The Bucs reserves took over in the fourth and extended upon the lead.  Geovana Rios grabbed an offensive board and put it back in and then A'Moni Waiters put it on spin cycle for two to give FSW their largest lead of the game at 69-43 early in the fourth.  A pair of paint buckets from Kesha White in the closing moments finished things off for the Bucs, giving them a 78-51 win at the final horn.  

 

FSW shot just 40% in the game, but thanks to a dominating effort on the boards, where they outrebounded the Panthers 54-31, the Bucs got up 37 more field goal attempts than Morton in the win.  Laureano led all scorers with 25 points and seven rebounds while Williams had 14 and eight in 24 minutes of action.  Tashun Bryson had a big game for the Bucs, finishing with six points, seven assists, and a career high 10 rebounds.  

 

The Bucs bounce back from their first loss of the season with a win to improve to 5-1 on the year while Morton drops their first of 2021 as they fall to 8-1.  

 

The Bucs will continue a three game home stand on Saturday when they host Palm Beach in Southern Conference action beginning at 2 PM at Suncoast Credit Union Arena.