GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Santa Fe College Men's Basketball hosted No. 3 Florida Southwestern State College on Saturday afternoon, and the Saints put together quite a performance to defeat the Buccaneers, 83-81.

SF remained unbeaten with the impressive victory and pulled it out down the stretch in a neck-and-neck battle with the Bucs.

First Half – FSW 43, SF 40

The Saints couldn't have started the game any better and raced out to a 16-2 lead in the first five minutes of play. The first 13 points went to the hosts, and SF had four three-pointers in the stretch of play, two from Bradley Douglas and two from Nicolas McClain.

The Bucs started to gain some traction, however, and trimmed the deficit to just four, 25-21, with a 12-3 run as the clock went under the midway point of the half.

SF stayed in front until the half's final minute, as the Bucs concluded the frame by claiming their first lead on a 12-2 run.

Second Half – SF 83, FSW 81

Once again, the Saints had an amazing start to the half. SF outscored the Bucs 14-3 in the first three minutes and went in front 54-46 on a steal and dunk on the other end from Hasan Abdul-Hakim to force an FSW timeout.

The Saints' advantage was nine, 65-56, with 9:33 on the clock when the Bucs made their push once again, this time with a 9-0 spurt to tie the ballgame up.

Abdul-Hakim put an end to the run with a basket and the foul, however, and moments later, Leonardo Da Campo canned a triple to hand SF a 71-67 lead as the clock approached the five-minute mark.

After FSW tied it at 71-71, the Saints scored eight of the next ten points, highlighted by two huge three-pointers from Brandon Farmer.

Although SF led 79-73 with 2:47 on the clock, no lead was safe against the nations' third-ranked team. The Bucs set themselves up for a chance for victory and regained a lead, 81-80, after two free-throws with 1:14 on the clock.

The Saints would find what proved to be the game-winning basket on a well-executed back cut from McClain for a slam with 15 seconds left. On the ensuing possession, SF's defense and McClain forced a jump ball and the arrow was in their favor, forcing the Bucs to foul Abdul-Hakim.

Although Abdul-Hakim split the pair, the Bucs final attempt, a three-pointer to win it with one second remaining, clanged off the rim to move the Saints to 3-0.

Key Statistics

The Saints held their own on the inside and limited FSW to just seven offensive rebounds.

SF also took quality care of the basketball. After nine turnovers in the opening half, the Saints had just four in the second half.

For the game, the hosts were 30-of-62 from the field (48.4%) and 13-of-33 (39.4%) from beyond the arc.

Abdul-Hakim was prolific with a game-high 22 points to go along with seven assists and five rebounds. Douglas (16), McClain (16), and Farmer (13) were the other three Saints in double-figures scoring. Douglas chipped in with six assists, and McClain led the team with eight rebounds to go along with his career-high scoring output, including the game-winner.

A Moment with Mowry

"Over 19 years you have some big wins, but certainly this is a big one for us. Florida Southwestern is an outstanding team...I am really pleased with our guys on how we communicated on defense, boxed out, played together, and made the extra pass offensively. Our shooting percentages were solid, and contributions came from a lot of guys. To beat a really good team, a lot of things have to go right. We weren't perfect, but we did a lot of good things and I am happy for the guys."

Up Next

Santa Fe (3-0. 0-0 Central) looks to remain unbeaten when it squares off with Miami Dade at the Florida JUCO Shootout. The Saints and Sharks will tipoff on Friday, Nov. 12 at noon at Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne, Fla.