FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. –
Mark Matthews collected his 13
th double-double of the season, while
Dwayne Gibson added 22 points on 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc, as No. 3 Nova Southeastern opened the Sunshine State Conference Tournament with a solid 95-82 victory over Tampa on Wednesday night. The Sharks shook off a slow start by closing the first half on a momentum-shifting 17-3 run. From there, head coach
Jim Crutchfield's club had little trouble en route to its first postseason win since 2015, and will now advance to face Barry at 5 p.m. in Saturday's semifinal round
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: Nova Southeastern 95, Tampa 82
Records: Nova Southeastern (25-2), Tampa (14-15)
Location: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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HOW IT HAPPENED:
1ST HALF | Two quick fouls called on Nova Southeastern's
David Dennis, coupled by a 6-of-9 shooting start for Tampa, pushed the Spartans out an early 13-7 advantage just under five minutes into the ball game. An
Eddie Puisis three pulled the Sharks back to within a deuce until an 8-2 spurt by the Spartans handed them their largest lead of the night at 29-21 with 9:45 remaining in the first half. Nova Southeastern would respond, though, with eight unanswered before a Gibson trey at the 4:36 mark put the Sharks back in front for the first time since the score read 5-4 in the opening moments. Two more Gibson three's on consecutive possessions stretched the margin to 43-36, as the senior's 19 first-half points would eventually send Nova Southeastern into the locker ahead, 47-38.
2ND HALF | After a scoreless opening 20 minutes in his first action since Feb. 16,
Connor Zinaich energized the Sharks following a stolen inbounds pass that led to an easy, two-handed flush. A two-time USBWA National Player of the Week this season, he then added a tough bucket in the lane, giving Nova Southeastern its first double-digit advantage with 13:55 to play.
Mikkel Kolstad's only field goal of the night extended the lead to a dozen, which is where It remained after a Matthews made lay-up just past the midway point of the half. Back-to-back triples by Gibson and Matthews widened the margin to 85-68, yet the Spartans countered with seven straight to trim the gap to 10 still with 3:48 showing on the clock. A pair of strong finishes by Zinaich would kill the Tampa run, though, before a handful of added free throws in the final minutes sealed the deal on the quarterfinal win.
UP NEXT:
Nova Southeastern will look to pick up its third win of the season against Barry when both clubs meet this Saturday at the Rick Case Arena. The Sharks knocked of the Buccaneers 103-93 and 90-85 in each of the two regular season meetings. For complete coverage of the action, follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_MBasketball or visit the
schedule page on NSUSharks.com.
