December 11, 2025
Bucs Drop Third Straight
The Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers couldn't overcome a hot shooting night from the outside by the Florida State College at Jacksonville Manta Rays Thursday night, falling 86-79 for their third consecutive defeat.
FORT MYERS, Fla.- The Florida SouthWestern Buccaneers couldn't overcome a hot shooting night from the outside by the Florida State College at Jacksonville Manta Rays Thursday night, falling 86-79 for their third consecutive defeat.
The Bucs got off to a quick start against the Manta Rays, jumping out to an early 10-4 lead four minutes in, but FSCJ answered with a 10-3 run of their own to grab a 14-13 lead at the under 12:00 media timeout. A 3:00 stretch with just two points for the Bucs allowed FSCJ to push their lead to five and FSW played catch up from there. The Manta Rays connected on a pair of three pointers to bump their lead to a dozen with 6:12 left in the half and not even seven Jeremy Innocent points in the final 4:09 of the half was enough to keep FSW out of a 42-29 hole at the break.
FSCJ went up by 16 with four of the first five points out of the half, but the Bucs found some rhythm moments later and a three point play from Abdoulaye Konate had them back within 10 at 51-41 with 15:00 remaining. Every time the Bucs made a run, it seemed the Manta Rays had an answer as the Bucs remained down big at the midway point of the second half at 63-52. It was 67-55 FSCJ at the under 8:00 media timeout when the Bucs put together their best stretch of the contest. A Konate three followed by a tip in from Lamont Hartfield drew FSW back to within five at 67-62 and a pair of free throws from Amont'e Allen-Johnson moments later made it a one position game at 69-66 with 5:00 to go. Just when it looked like the Bucs had all the momentum, the Manta Rays went on a 6-0 run to give themselves some breathing room, and FSW never threatened again. The Bucs made it a five point game twice in the final minute, but time was against them and the Manta Rays salted the game away at the free throw line to finish off an 86-79 victory over FSW.
The difference came from beyond the arc where FSW shot just 22% while FSCJ shot 46% on 22 attempts. Four Bucs scored in double figures led by Innocent who put up 18 points and 10 rebounds in his second double-double of the year. Konate had 15 while Hartfield added 14 off the Bucs bench.
The Bucs drop their third straight to fall to 7-4 on the year while FSCJ improves to 10-2 in 2025.
FSW will look to get back on track Friday when they host Florida Coastal Prep at 7 PM to close out the 2025 FSW Holiday Classic at Suncoast Arena.