Bucs Season Ends in FCSAA Quarters
The #21 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers picked the wrong night to have their worst shooting game of the year, hitting on just 27% from the field and 17% from three point range to fall 68-53 to #7 Chipola to see their season come to an end in the FCSAA Quarterfinals in Niceville.
NICEVILLE, Fla.- The #21 Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers picked the wrong night to have their worst shooting game of the year, hitting on just 27% from the field and 17% from three point range to fall 68-53 to #7 Chipola to see their season come to an end in the FCSAA Quarterfinals in Niceville.
The start of the game was a sign of things to come for the Bucs as they missed their first six shots of the game to fall behind 9-0 right off the bat. Amont'e Allen-Johnson finally got the Bucs on the board at the 15:00 mark with a pair of free throws, but it wasn't until seven minutes into the contest that their first shot fell as Chipola got out to a 13-2 advantage. The Bucs slowly worked their way back into the game, drawing to within six at the midway point of the half, but another drought on the offensive end saw their deficit grow back to a dozen at 25-13 with 7:12 remaining in the half. The teams played even over the final seven minutes of the half with a late three from Lamont Hartfield cutting the Indian lead to 35-24 at the end of 20 minutes of action.
Neither team scored in the first two minutes of the second half but the Bucs found their best stretch of the night from there, outscoring Chipola 8-3 over the next four minutes to get back to within six at 38-32 with 14:00 to go. It remained a six point game two minutes later when the Bucs had two straight good looks from three to cut it to a one possession game, but both were off the mark and FSW continued to trail by six. The Bucs continued to scratch and claw to remain in the game with the score 50-44 in favor of Chipola with 5:45 to go. The Indians got the next bucket and the Bucs never got closer than eight the rest of the game as every time FSW scored, Chipola had an immediate answer, ultimately finishing off a 68-53 win at the final horn.
The Bucs shot a season worst 27% from the field in the loss while their 17% mark from three point range was their second lowest connection rate this year. Allen-Johnson finished with a team high 13 for the Bucs while Mason Blazer was the only other Buc in double figures with 11.
FSW sees their 2025-2026 season come to a close at 23-8, marking their most wins in the past four seasons. Chipola advances to the FCSAA semifinals with a 24-7 record.