FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – On a night in which No. 5 Nova Southeastern shot a season-low 41.9 percent from the field, the Sharks turned up the heat defensively, forcing a season-high 31 turnovers en route to a hard-fought 91-84 win over Cedarville on Thursday. Head coach
Jim Crutchfield's club shook off a sluggish opening 20 minutes, and used a key 10-0 run in the latter portion of the second half to eventually create enough breathing room against a pesky Yellow Jackets team.
Mark Matthews led the way for the Sharks with 22 points, while
Mikkel Kolstad added 21 to go along with
Connor Zinaich's 20 off the bench.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: No. 5 Nova Southeastern 91, Cedarville 84
Records: Nova Southeastern (7-1), Cedarville (6-5)
Location: The Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Get Social: Twitter - @NSU_MBasketball | Instagram - @NSU_MBasketball
HOW IT HAPPENED:
1
st Half | The Sharks started strong, climbing out to an early 8-4 edge on a lay-up by
Nick Smith. The cushion remained just two midway through the half until a finish by
Jake Maranville sparked a 10-0 run. With their defense leading to offense, the Sharks turned a Zinaich steal into a Kolstad three-pointer before an
RJ Sunahara theft resulted in a triple for Zinaich. An ensuing Sunahara bucket then pushed the Sharks' lead to their largest of the half at 29-17 with 7:56 to play. As encouraging as the NSU start was, though, the Sharks would record just one field goal for the remainder of the half, as the Yellow Jackets closed on an 8-2 spurt to grab a slim 39-38 advantage heading into the locker room.
2
nd Half | Trailing 42-40 in the opening moments of the second half, NSU forced Cedarville into turnovers on four consecutive possessions, flipping the two-point deficit into a five-point lead in a matter of 30 seconds. However, the Yellow Jackets hung tough, and were able to knot the contest back up at 56-56 with 11:48 showing on the clock. A Conner TenHove freebie kept Cedarville within one until Zinaich answered with an old-fashioned, three-point play on one possession, before his offensive rebound tap out on the next, set Kolstad up for one of his four treys on the night. In front 69-66 at the 7:36 mark, NSU finally imposed its will on the Yellow Jackets, ripping off 10 unanswered points, including a Matthews lay-up on a feed from Zinaich that stretched the margin to 13. Cedarville narrowed the gap late following back-to-back three's banked in by Isaish Speelman. Smith and the Sharks were able to eventually salt the game away at the line, though, to seal the seven-point win.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- The Sharks' 21 steals Thursday tied the record for the most since the program joined NCAA Division II in 2002.
- With the win, NSU now improves to 5-0 this season in non-conference matchups.
- Matthews has already topped the 20-point plateau in six games this season after doing so 19 times a year ago.
- Thursday marked the second straight contest in which the Sharks trailed at halftime.
STATS OF THE NIGHT:
- In addition to his 20 points in the effort, Zinaich proved to be a pest defensively, collecting four steals along with two blocks.
- Kolstad notched five steals for the second consecutive ball game, and has now averaged 4.66 over his last three.
- After hitting just 35.0% of its attempts in the first half, NSU shot 50.0% from the floor in the final 20 minutes.
- The Sharks were outrebounded by a hefty 32-17 margin in the first half, yet owned a 21-14 advantage on the glass after the break.
- Smith finished the night with a team-high 10 rebounds, pulling down seven after halftime.
UP NEXT:
The nation's fifth-ranked team will receive a test this Saturday when it welcomes No. 23 Dominican (N.Y.) to the Rick Case Arena. For complete coverage of the action, visit the
schedule page on NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_MBasketball.
