January 27, 2021
Big Second Half Propels #7 FSW Over Eastern in Road Test
It took the #7 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers a little while to get going Wednesday night on the road in Melbourne, but once they did, there wasn't much that Eastern Florida State could do to slow them down as the Bucs lit up the scoreboard for 46 second half points to run away with a 74-53 win over the Titans in non-conference action.
MELBOURNE, Fla.- It took the #7 Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers a little while to get going Wednesday night on the road in Melbourne, but once they did, there wasn't much that Eastern Florida State could do to slow them down as the Bucs lit up the scoreboard for 46 second half points to run away with a 74-53 win over the Titans in non-conference action.
Points were at a premium early on as FSW and Eastern were tied at 10 nine minutes into the contest. The pace remained slow, but a transition bucket from Terry Roberts and a corner three from Kahari Rodgers gave the Bucs a five point advantage, 17-12 as the first half clock ticked under 9:00. A smooth move by Mohamed Sylla in the paint later in the half stretched the FSW lead to nine, but Eastern got a banked in three to start a 5-0 run to close the period and cut the Bucs lead to just four at 28-24 at the break.
The Bucs shot 42% in the first 20 minutes of action while holding Eastern to just 32% from the field. Kario Oquendo led FSW with seven first half points while Terry Roberts chipped in six.
Eastern continued their momentum into the second half and just four minutes in, the Bucs lead was gone as the Titans went ahead by one, 32-31. Behind for the first time since the opening minutes of the game, the Bucs woke up, going on a 14-5 run highlighted by back to back threes from Rodgers to erase the Eastern lead and push FSW out to their first double digit lead of the game at 48-38 with 11:00 remaining. A steal and score from Roberts put the Bucs up 15 and they never looked back from there. FSW pushed the lead to as many as 25 before dribbling out a 74-53 win to improve to 3-0 on the year.
FSW shot 59% in the second half to finish at just over 50% in the ballgame. Their defense stayed locked in for all 40 minutes, holding Eastern to just 33% shooting in their home gym while turning 19 Titan turnovers into 21 points in the contest.
Oquendo led the Bucs with 13 points and 6 rebounds and posted a +28 on the night while Roberts filled the stat sheet with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 5 steals for FSW. Joining the pair in double figures was CJ Lane who had 12 and Jaden Campbell who chipped in 9.
FSW improves to 3-0 on the year with their second straight road win while Eastern drops to 1-2 on the season.
The Bucs now turn their focus to a Top 25 matchup in Suncoast Credit Union Arena Saturday night when 7th ranked FSW hosts 23rd ranked Northwest Florida State in a 2 PM tip as part of the Florida Juco Shootout.