FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – With the offense a bit out of sync on Thursday, the defense picked up the slack for No. 4 Nova Southeastern, as the Sharks opened the New Year with a decisive 100-82 win over Eckerd. Head coach
Jim Crutchfield's club shot just 3-of-25 from beyond the arc, yet forced the Tritons into 30 turnovers to eventually run away in the second half.
Mark Matthews paced five players in double figures with 22 points, while
RJ Sunahara and
Nick Smith both finished with double-doubles.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: No. 4 Nova Southeastern 100, Eckerd 82
Records: No. 4 Nova Southeastern (9-1, 3-1 SSC), Eckerd (6-6, 2-2 SSC)
Location: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
1
st Half | An early 7-0 spurt put Eckerd in front 12-10 a little over five minutes into the contest. NSU regained a slim one-point edge until three of Travis Bianco's game-high 31 points quickly put the Tritons back on top 22-20. As the ball game wore on, though, the Sharks gradually began to find their footing, and pulled ahead by four following a two-handed flush by
Connor Zinaich at the 7:16 mark. The four-point advantage remained after
Mikkel Kolstad hit NSU's first three-point bucket of the night following an 0-of-7 start. That margin soon grew to double-digits following a nifty steal by Smith that led to an uncontested two on the other end. Eckerd trimmed the margin back to single digits in the final minute of the half, yet a dunk by Sunahara to beat the buzzer would send the Sharks into the locker room with a 45-35 cushion.
2
nd Half | Forcing 19 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, NSU picked up where it left off to begin the second half, forcing three more in the first 1:37 to stretch the margin out to 53-37. An
Eddie Puisis trey out of a timeout pushed the lead to 62-43 with 15:52 to play. The lead would hover near 20 points for the Sharks for much of the half, which is where it remained after Matthews hit Sunahara diving to the basket to make it an 82-62 contest. Comfortably in front, the Sharks coasted the rest of the way, hitting the century mark for the sixth time this season in the final minute to secure the 100-82 win.
STATS OF THE NIGHT:
- The Sharks' depth showed up once again on Thursday, as they received 32 points from their bench, including 12 from Zinaich and eight from Lukas Speidel.
- Sunahara was all over the court in his 28 minutes of action, filling up the stat sheet with 17 points and 10 boards to go along with five blocks and four steals.
- Smith finished the ball game with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while also adding four assists and a season-high six steals.
- NSU owned the offensive glass, collecting 21 of its own misses.
UP NEXT:
A ranked showdown awaits this Saturday, as NSU will travel to take on No. 14 Florida Southern at 7:30 p.m. For complete coverage of the action, visit the
schedule page on NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_MBasketball.
