FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Mark Matthews and Lukas Speidel combined for 50 points, Nick Smith and Matt Weir each joined Matthews in the double-double department, while the Nova Southeastern defense forced 30 turnovers to lead the Sharks past Staten Island, 130-62, in their regular season debut on Wednesday. In all, seven players scored in double figures, as the nation's second-ranked team jumped out to a 50-point lead at the half in what eventually wound up as the largest margin of victory in the Jim Crutchfield era.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: Nova Southeastern 130, Staten Island 62
Records: Nova Southeastern (1-0), Staten Island (0-1)
Location: The Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
1^st Half | NSU will need to clean up its mistakes after committing 15 of its 22 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes. Yet, the Sharks were able to overcome their miscues thanks to their harassing defense and sharp shooting on Wednesday. Crutchfield's crew connected on 70.7 percent of its shot attempts in the first half, and jumped out to a comfortable 15-4 start following an Eddie Puisis three-pointer at the 16:21 mark. The Dolphins were forced to call timeout after a thunderous slam by freshman Shane Hunter pushed the lead to 20, but still couldn't stop the bleeding, as five more unanswered points extended the run to 19-0. The margin later doubled to 57-17 thanks to a quick 8-0 spurt from both Speidel and Carl Alenfall. RJ Sunahara soon joined in on the action with a dunk of his own before Smith beat the buzzer to send the Sharks into the locker room with a whopping 73-23 advantage.

2^nd Half | The Sharks were held to just four points in the first 4:39 of the second half, but quickly regained their rhythm by scoring on each of their next four possessions – one of which ended in another Sunahara jam. NSU reached triple digits still with 8:50 remaining following one of Smith's three treys. By that point, the Sharks were still in front by 51, and down the stretch, closed out the ball game on an extended 23-5 run to put the finishing touches on the opening night of the regular season. 

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• All 10 players who appeared in Wednesday's win: scored, collected at least three rebounds and dished out two-plus assists.
• Speidel set a new career high with 26 points on 12-of-15 shooting after netting a season high of 15 points a year ago as a freshman.
• Alenfall's 10 points in the win marked the most for him in a game since equaling that amount back on Feb. 18, 2017 against Saint Leo.
• Coach Crutchfield was able to keep his team fresh in the rout, as Weir topped everyone with just 24 minutes played.

 
 STATS OF THE NIGHT:

• NSU set a new program record with 41 assists on its 50 made field goals.
• Of the Sharks' 73 first-half points, 36 of those came off turnovers.
• The Sharks owned the Dolphins on the glass, winning the rebound battle by a margin of 53-23.
• Both making their NSU debuts on Wednesday, Weir finished with 11 points and a game-high 10 assists to go along with 10 points and two blocks for Hunter.
• The NSU defense limited the Dolphins to only 7-of-33 (21.2%) shooting from beyond the arc.

UP NEXT:
NSU will hope to add another 'W' in the win column when it hosts Trevecca Nazarene this Saturday at 7 p.m. For complete coverage of the action, visit the schedule page on NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_MBasketball.