NICEVILLE, Fla. – The No. 5-seeded Santa Fe men's basketball team bowed out of the FCSAA / NJCAA Region VIII State Tournament on Wednesday evening, falling to the No. 4-seeded Florida Southwestern Buccaneers, 67-59.

The Saints and Bucs matched up for what proved to be a rollercoaster game of runs in postseason play, and the outcome was in doubt all the way to the final minute of play.

Making their first appearance in the State Tournament since 2012-2013, Santa Fe was unable to overcome a long drought in the second half that saw them fall into a double-digit hole.

First Half – No. 5 SF 35, No. 4 FSW 28

Just as in the first game between the two teams, SF jumped out to a fast start. Bradley Douglas opened the game's scoring and had the first five points for the Saints, helping SF get out to a 7-2 advantage.

The Saints' lead was at its largest so far, 18-10, after a basket in transition from Hasan Abdul-Hakim forced an FSW timeout with 13:58 on the clock. By that point in time, Douglas had already reached double-digit scoring with ten.

Leading 23-17 with the clock approaching 7:30, the Saints rattled off seven consecutive points, five of which came from Abdul-Hakim. His first triple of the game made it 30-17 with 5:17 on the clock, which would prove to be FSW's largest deficit the rest of the way.

The Bucs cut it to five, 31-26 in the half's final minutes, but four more points from Douglas down the stretch pushed it back to seven by the halftime horn.

The Saints were shooting 15-32 from the floor (46.9 percent), and Douglas had 16 points at the break. FSW, in contrast, shot just 11-of-29 in the opening half (37.9 percent).

Second Half –No. 4 FSW 67, No. 5 SF 59

The second half's first four points came from the hand of Abdul-Hakim, who worked his way into the paint for two more buckets to give SF a 39-28 lead.

SF led by six, 44-38, when the Bucs began a run that changed the game's tide dramatically. FSW had never led until the 11:48 mark, when a three-pointer gave them a 45-44 edge.

The triple proved to be part of a much larger run, however, which extended out to 16 unanswered points. SF fell into a 56-44 deficit with 7:17 to play.

The offense came to a screeching halt as the Saints couldn't buy a basket, going scoreless for nearly seven and a half minutes.

Despite the evident frustration on the offensive end, Douglas was the one to end the drought with a floater from the right side with 6:53 to play.

FSW still proceeded to establish their largest lead of the game of 17, 59-46, as the clock approached five minutes remaining.

Ten consecutive points were scored by SF in what was an impressive run to draw right back to within a single possession, 59-56, with 2:41 on the clock. Brandon Farmer and Abdul-Hakim each had triples during the stretch of play.

The Saints had their first opportunity to tie with a corner three from Jaren Phillips with 1:07 to play, but his shot missed the mark and was controlled on the glass by the Bucs, forcing the Saints to begin to foul.

Two made FSW free-throws brought the score to 63-58 with 45 ticks remaining, and out of a timeout, Farmer had a clean look from the top of the key catch the front rim.

Once again, the Bucs grabbed the defensive rebound. The Bucs weren't yet in the bonus, however, and SF did a nice job on an inbound pass with just 32 seconds left to force a turnover.

Abdul-Hakim was then fouled with the chance to make it a one-possession contest, but he missed two free-throws. Farmer was in the right place to corral the loose ball rebound, and then made his own way to the line for two more from the stripe.

After he missed the first, Farmer salvaged a split to bring the score to 63-59 with plenty of time left to play, 27 seconds.

The Bucs missed a free-throw on the ensuing 1-and-1 opportunity, and the Saints came down the other way. With 17 seconds left, Nicolas McClain fired up a three-pointer from straight away that went in-and-out.

After FSW grabbed the rebound and made two free-throws on the other end to make it 65-59, the Saints had two desperation triple-tries in the waning moments miss their mark, and the Saints' memorable 2021-2022 season came to a conclusion in Niceville.  

Key Statistics

The Saints were outrebounded 43-30 in the defeat but counteracted that by forcing 15 FSW turnovers while committing just eight of their own.

SF was particularly cold from the field in the second half, however, going just 8-of-31 overall (25.8 percent) and 3-of-19 (15.8 percent) from beyond the arc while being unable to fully recover from the scoreless drought of nearly eight minutes of play.

Douglas finished the game with 20 points, seven rebounds, six assists, and three steals. His backcourt mate Abdul-Hakim pitched in with 16 points of his own. Farmer added seven points and seven rebounds, while McClain matched him with seven points as well.

Up Next

FSW will play the No. 1 seed Indian River State College on Friday, Mar. 4 at 4:00 p.m. ET. Santa Fe's season goes down as one of the program's best, and concludes with a 24-6 mark overall, a Central Conference Championship, and the State Tournament appearance.