FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Sunshine State Conference Tournament final is going to look awfully familiar, as No. 20 Nova Southeastern pulled away from Palm Beach Atlantic in the second half en route to an eventual 93-78 win, setting up a championship matchup with Florida Southern for the second year in a row this Sunday at 1 p.m. in Lakeland, Fla. Freshman
Shane Hunter ignited the Sharks off the bench with a season-high 23 points, including a 6-of-7 effort from beyond the arc, while
Nick Smith poured in 14 of his 16 after the break to become the 17
th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: No. 20 Nova Southeastern 93, Palm Beach Atlantic 78
Records: No. 20 Nova Southeastern (23-5)
, Palm Beach Atlantic (21-9)
Location: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
Get Social: Twitter - @NSU_MBasketball | Instagram - @NSU_MBasketball
HOW IT HAPPENED:
1
st Half | The Sharks dug themselves into an early double-digit hole following a slow defensive start. A pair of Dan Largey three-pointers for the Sailfish handed the visitors a 16-9 advantage, which soon grew to 20-9 after a Justin Nichelson lay-in at the 13-minute mark. Hunter would inject some energy into the Sharks, though, with a three-pointer and a lay-up as part of a quick 7-0 spurt to pull NSU back to within four. Hunter kept things rolling with the Sharks still down 27-21, drilling a second triple before converting a three-point play in transition to knot the ball game at 27-27 with 6:39 remaining. Head coach
Jim Crutchfield continued to ride his bench, and received back-to-back, three-point plays from
Connor Zinaich and
Lukas Speidel, as NSU grabbed its first lead since the opening minute of the contest at 33-30.
Jake Maranville found
Matt Weir for a three from the wing to extend the margin to 41-34 with 1:40 left in the half. The Sharks would stretch their lead to as many as eight, limiting PBA to just one made field goal over a 5:40 span, until a Largey trey in the closing seconds trimmed the gap to 42-37 heading into the locker room.
2
nd Half | A Darhius Nunn finish in transition evened the score once again at 46-46. However, NSU didn't flinch, and responded right back with 10 unanswered points, capped by a
Mark Matthews bucket plus the foul. The lead was whittled back to just two with a little over 12 minutes showing on the clock. A key three by Speidel on the ensuing possession minimized PBA's momentum, though, before Maranville banked in a three near the NSU bench to push the advantage back out to 67-58 midway through the half. From there, NSU would keep its foot on the gas, allowing the Sailfish to climb back to only as close as seven the rest of the way. Hunter's fourth trey of the night pushed the margin back to double-digits, only to watch it rise to 13 moments later on three-pointer No. 5. Well in command with less than four minutes to go, a Smith three-point play put the game out of reach at 87-69, yet the junior made sure to score at least one more bucket, officially hitting the 1000-point mark on an easy lay-in to send the Sharks through to the final.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
- Prior to the 2018-19 season, NSU had never made the SSC Tournament final, and will now return to the championship game for the second time in as many chances.
- Saturday's win avenged a one-point loss to the Sailfish as recently as Feb. 19.
STATS OF THE NIGHT:
- Hunter (23) and Smith (16) led the way offensively for the Sharks, but also got plenty of help from Matthews, who finished with 15 points, and Speidel, who accounted for 10 more.
- Two days after matching the program-record with 21 made three-pointers, NSU shot just 4-of-18 from beyond the arc in the first half. The Sharks would find much more of a rhythm in the second, though, connecting on 7-of-13 from deep.
- RJ Sunahara pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds, while Zinaich tallied eight of his own, as NSU won the rebounding battle by a 42-35 margin.
- Thanks to an SSC Tournament program-record 17 offensive rebounds, the Sharks owned the Sailfish in second-chance points, 22-6.
UP NEXT:
NSU and Florida Southern will clash in yet another high-profile matchup this Sunday at 1 p.m. Both sides split during the regular season, with the road team –oddly enough – winning each meeting. For complete coverage of the action, visit the
schedule page on NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_MBasketball.
