February 22, 2026
Bucs Take Control of Citrus Race With Win Over #15 Daytona
Keyon Giles scored 27 points to lead the #24 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers over the #15 Daytona State Falcons 88-77 Saturday afternoon in Suncoast Credit Union Arena to put the Bucs alone in first place in the Citrus Conference standings with two games left to go.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- Keyon Giles scored 27 points to lead the #24 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers over the #15 Daytona State Falcons 88-77 Saturday afternoon in Suncoast Credit Union Arena to put the Bucs alone in first place in the Citrus Conference standings with two games left to go.
The shootout began right away as Mason Blazer nailed a three for the Bucs and Noah Mendy answered quickly for the Falcons to get the scoring going in a matchup that lived up to it's Top 25 billing coming in. Seven minutes in, the teams were deadlocked at 13 before seven straight points from FSW had the Bucs in front 20-13 with 11:00 to go in the half. The Bucs padded their lead to 26-17 as Amont'e Allen-Johnson found Stephen Okoro on the inside for an easy two, but Daytona would score the next nine including seven on one trip down the floor to flip the script and take a 29-26 lead with 6:30 remaining in the period. Back to back threes from Kenyon Giles got the Bucs back on track and put FSW back ahead and another triple from the southpaw later on had them up eight, 37-29 with 4:03 to go. The Bucs run continued, eventually reaching 16-0 to turn a three point deficit to a 13 point lead at 42-29 with 2:02 left on the clock. At the break the Bucs were in control, leading the Falcons 48-34 as the teams went to the locker rooms.
The Bucs knew they would get a push back from the back to back reigning Citrus Conference Champs and that push came early in the second half as after an early bucket from FSW, the Falcons went on an 8-1 run to get it back to single digits before whittling down the Bucs lead to just five at 56-51 at the under 12:00 media timeout. Daytona had it down to a three point game at 60-57 with 7:52 to go when a big three point play from Giles gave the Bucs some breathing room and put momentum back on the side of the Purple and Aqua. A transition three from Blazer with 4:38 remaining stretched the Bucs lead back out to nine and a corner pocket triple from Trey Fogle padded the Bucs cushion back to double digits. Daytona got back to within eight in the closing moments, but the Bucs never let them get closer than that, taking care of business at the free throw line to finish off an 88-77 victory to take control of the 2026 Citrus Conference race.
The Bucs shot an even 50% from the field in the win and hit eight threes, pushing their record to 22-0 on the year when they make seven or more triples. Giles led the way with 27 points while Blazer and Tyler Bey finished with 15 apiece.
FSW and Daytona both move to 22-6 on the year after the contest with the Bucs taking sole possession of first place in the Citrus Conference standings at 12-2 while the Falcons fall one game behind FSW at 11-3.
With two games left in the Citrus Conference schedule the Bucs hold a one game lead on the Falcons and have the tiebreaker over Daytona after sweeping the regular season series.
FSW is back in action on Wednesday on Sophomore Night in Suncoast Arena where FSW will honor their 2026 sophomore class ahead of their 7 PM tip off with the Santa Fe Saints.