FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – To sum up the type of night Thursday was for No. 6 Nova Southeastern, leading scorer
David Dennis made just one bucket, yet the Sharks still won by 59 points – their largest margin of victory in 21 years. Head coach
Jim Crutchfield's club piled up 21 three-pointers, while forcing 34 turnovers, on its way to a 132-73 rout of St. Thomas (Fla.), setting a new program record with its seventh straight win to open the season.
Lukas Speidel and
Connor Zinaich paced another high-powered offensive performance with 15 points apiece, as Nova Southeastern needed less than one half to put the game to rest.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: Nova Southeastern 132, St. Thomas (Fla.) 73
Records: Nova Southeastern (7-0), St. Thomas (Fla.) (6-6)
Location: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Get Social: Twitter - @NSU_MBasketball | Instagram - @NSU_MBasketball
HOW IT HAPPENED:
1
st Half | The Sharks tallied the first six points of the contest and never looked back. Leading 14-11 less than five minutes into the ball game,
Eddie Puisis converted consecutive lay-ups, sparking a 21-2 run that spanned just 3:44. The cushion grew to 26 just moments later before the Sharks ripped off nine unanswered points capped by a pair of makes by
Mark Matthews. A
Pat Huffine field goal would push Nova Southeastern to the 70-point mark in the first half for the second time this season, only for
Nick Smith to follow up with a trey to send the Sharks into the break ahead 73-34.
2
nd Half | The starters remained in their warm-ups for the entire second half, as Coach Crutchfield was able to get an extended look at a number of reserves over the final 20 minutes. Even so, the defensive pressure didn't let up. After coming away with a steal, freshman
Mike Moore found
Felipe Souza for an old-fashioned, three-point play to give the Sharks 87-38 advantage. A
Carl Alenfall triple would extend the lead to 50 before
Kaine McColley joined in on the action with two of his eight points on the night to put Nova Southeastern at the century mark still with 12:41 to play. Speidel and Moore combined for 29 points in the second half alone, while
Hampus Ahlin chipped in with six points and six assists in 17 minutes of action.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- The Sharks finished just one point shy of the single-game record for points in a game, a mark that was set less than one month ago against Florida National.
- Nova Southeastern's 50 made field goals and 21 made three-pointers both tied program records.
- All 15 players on the NSU roster scored in Thursday's win.
STATS OF THE NIGHT:
- After receiving just seven points from their bench in last Saturday's victory over Saint Leo, the Sharks got a mind-boggling 96 points from their reserves on Thursday.
- NSU turned the Bobcats' 34 turnovers into 57 points.
- Matthews tallied nine points and nine boards in just 10 minutes of action.
- Led by four from Moore, the Sharks had 11 different players make at least one three-pointer.
UP NEXT:
Nova Southeastern will return to the floor at home next Monday against Caldwell. The Sharks edged the Cougars in triple overtime, 105-102, in their last meeting on Nov. 27, 2017. For complete coverage of the action, follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_MBasketball or visit the
schedule page on NSUSharks.com.
