FORT MYERS, Fla.- For fans of offense, Monday night's game between the Florida SouthWestern State Buccaneers and the Palm Beach State Panthers wasn't for you. The consolation prize for FSW fans was the Bucs coming away with a 67-50 win in a game that was marred with 32 turnovers and a combined 23% shooting from the three point line.  

 

The Bucs got off to a slow start, needing over four minutes before they cracked the scoreboard for the first time.  But once they did, they got things rolling, erasing an early 5-0 Palm Beach lead and taking an 11-5 lead of their own at the 13:00 mark of the first half. Five straight points from Dezdrick Lindsay midway through the half upped the Bucs lead to 25-13, but a three minute scoreless drought from FSW after that allowed Palm Beach to creep back in to within seven at 25-18. A three from AJ Hopkins and a pair of free throws in the closing seconds of the half from Jaehshon Thomas cushioned the Bucs lead once more and gave the Purple and Aqua a 36-24 lead as the teams went to the locker room at the half. 

 

FSW quickly scored the first eight points of the second half to take their first 20 point lead of the night at 44-24 as Yvens Paul continued his high flying act with a two handed slam with 18:04 left in the contest.  But it would be nearly five minutes before the Bucs scored again as once again Palm Beach weasled their way back into the ballgame at 44-33 with 13:30 to go. A bucket from Thomas and a quick steal from Lindsay and dish to Tyrone Baker for a one handed slam put FSW back up 16 in the blink of an eye and the Panthers never threatened again.  The Bucs pushed the lead to as many as 25 with 4:45 left before putting things in cruise control for a 67-50 win.  

 

The Bucs shot 46% in the win but were hampered by 17 turnovers while they held Palm Beach to just 29% shooting and forced 15 Panther turnovers on the night. Thomas and Paul led the way for FSW as Thomas finished with a game high 17 points while also dishing out 6 assists while Paul notched his second straight double-double with 14 points and 14 rebounds.  

 

FSW improves to 5-2 on the year with the win while Palm Beach drops to 6-4.  

 

The Bucs are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Melbourne to take part in the Florida Juco Shootout where they will match up with #1 Northwest Florida at 2 PM in Titan Field House.