BOCA RATON, Fla. – Wins on the road at Lynn have been difficult to come by for Nova Southeastern throughout recent years. In fact, the Sharks hadn't beaten the Fighting Knights in their own building since January of 2014 – that was until Wednesday. Making his Sunshine State Conference debut, head coach
Jim Crutchfield and company grabbed control from the opening tip before holding on down the stretch for a key 87-81 SSC victory. Point guard
David Dennis filled up the stat sheet with 19 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, as the Sharks never trailed on their way to improving to 2-0 on the young season.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: Nova Southeastern 87, Lynn 81
Records: Nova Southeastern (2-0, 1-0 SSC), Lynn (0-1, 0-1 SSC)
Location: de Hoernle Sports & Cultural Center | Boca Raton, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
1
st Half | Wednesday marked the regular season opener for Lynn, however, it was Nova Southeastern that brought the early energy. The Sharks jumped out to a quick 4-0 edge on an
Isaac White lay-in before the momentum quickly mounted. Behind their stifling defense and hot shooting, the Sharks built a 28-9 cushion just 7:21 into the contest. Lynn would gradually chip away, though, and climbed back to within single-digits on a Jamal Palmer jumper with 6:43 left in the half. Nova Southeastern's lead shrunk to four with just over three minutes to go until a three-point play by
Nick Stampley and a
David Dennis bucket stretched the advantage back to 48-37. Still, Lynn hung tough and managed to overcome its sluggish start by narrowing the gap to 50-44 at the break.
2
nd Half | Dennis and
Dwayne Gibson combined for 10 of Nova Southeastern's first 12 points coming out of the locker room, as the Sharks held onto a 62-55 edge at the 12:53 mark. Lynn's Ryan Peterson would heat up from distance, though, draining four of his six triples in the second half to keep the home team within striking distance. The Fighting Knights closed the margin to 72-68, but every time Lynn was on the verge of making the arena erupt, the Sharks had an answer for the crowd. With Nova Southeastern clinging to an 81-79 lead with just 1:23 remaining, senior
Gerard Tarin came up with the play of the night with a wild left-handed tip-in to keep it a two-possession contest. From there, White would salt the game away at the line to keep the Sharks unbeaten.
STATS OF THE NIGHT:
- For the second straight ball game, the Sharks showed plenty of balance on the offensive end with six players recording at least nine points in Wednesday's effort.
- Freshman Nick Smith proved clutch from the charity stripe, where he converted 7-of-9 in the win. Through two games, Smith is averaging 15.0 points off the bench.
- The Sharks poured in 50 points in the first half Wednesday, their third half already this season tallying at least half a century.
- Dennis added five steals in his 39 minutes of action.
- Outside of Peterson's 6-of-10 night from three-point range, the Sharks limited Lynn to a combined 3-of-15 from deep.
- Whistles were flying everywhere Wednesday night as both teams combined for 52 total fouls.
UP NEXT:
NSU will return to the Rick Case Arena for another tough SSC test this Saturday against Tampa. For complete coverage of the action, follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_MBasketball or visit the
schedule page on NSUSharks.com.
