March 20, 2021

LAKE WORTH, Fla.- If you were just to look at the shooting numbers from Saturday's Florida SouthWestern vs. Palm Beach Men's Basketball game, you would think that it was a nip and tuck battle that went down to the wire.  Both teams shot 41% from the field and the Bucs made five threes to Palm Beach's four while the difference at the free throw line was just two points.  The difference though, was on the glass, where FSW outrebounded the Panthers by 19, including 22 offensive boards, leading to 18 more field goal attempts in the contest.  With all of that said, it was not a close contest, as the 13th ranked Bucs raced out to a 12 point halftime lead before running away with an 82-65 win late to improve to 16-2 on the year.  

Palm Beach gave the Bucs their best shot early on and jumped out to a 14-13 lead six minutes into the contest.  A three from Terry Roberts put the Bucs in front and an old fashioned three point play from CJ Jackson moments later stretched the FSW lead to 10 at 27-17.  The Bucs took their largest lead of the half at the 8:20 mark as Roberts sunk a pair of free throws to put FSW up 14, but the Panthers stormed back to cut it in half to seven with just under two minutes to go in the period. FSW scored the final five points of the half, including four from Jaden Campbell to give the Bucs a 44-32 lead at the end of 20 minutes of action.  

The Bucs came out of the break slow and the Panthers took advantage, cutting the FSW lead to just two possessions after scoring the first six of the half.  A strong finish by Jackson on the inside and another triple from Roberts got the Bucs back on track and by the 12:00 mark, the Bucs had blown their lead open to 18 at 60-42.  The Bucs were never threatened again as Palm Beach never got closer than a dozen for the final 10 minutes of the contest with FSW rolling to an 82-65 win for their eighth Southern Conference victory of the season. 

Five Bucs scored in double figures in the win including Roberts who led the way with 17 and Lane and Jackson who each added 15. 

#13 FSW improves to 16-2 on the year and ups their Southern Conference mark to 8-1 while Palm Beach's struggles continue as they fall to 3-15 overall and 1-9 in league action. 

After a four game road trip, the Bucs return home to Suncoast Credit Union Arena on Wednesday when they host Indian River in a 7:30 tip that will all but determine the 2021 Southern Conference Championship. 

#13 FLORIDA SOUTHWESTERN/PALM BEACH STATE BOX SCORE