LAKELAND, Fla. – Saturday's matchup between No. 4 Nova Southeastern and No. 14 Florida Southern certainly lived up to the billing. Mark Matthews shouldered the load offensively with a career-high 36 points before Connor Zinaich dominated the overtime period with 11 of his 22, as the Sharks captured a thrilling 111-103 victory on the road in a rematch of last season's Sunshine State Conference Tournament championship game.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Score: No. 4 Nova Southeastern 111, No. 14 Florida Southern 103 (OT)
Records: No. 4 Nova Southeastern (10-1, 4-1 SSC), No. 14 Florida Southern (12-2, 4-2 SSC)
Location: Jenkins Field House | Lakeland, Fla.
Get Social: Twitter - @NSU_MBasketball | Instagram - @NSU_MBasketball

HOW IT HAPPENED:
1^st Half | Reinserted back into the lineup for the first time since mid-November, freshman Jake Maranville ignited the NSU offense early with two three-point makes to hand the Sharks a 15-11 edge less than five minutes into the ball game. FSC pulled back even at 21-21, yet Matthews pushed the advantage back out to four, hitting the 12-point mark just midway through the half. The margin later stretched to seven after Nick Smith made the Moccasins pay for going under a screen by drilling one of his two triples on the night. The lead sat at 40-36 with 3:47 remaining until a Matthews three-point play, coupled by a pair of technical free throws from Matt Weir, all the sudden built the lead to nine. The Sharks would twice extend the advantage to double-digits, however, a four-point play and a last-second steal and finish narrowed the gap to just 53-49 heading into the break.

2^nd Half | Held to only two points in the first half, RJ Sunahara took over the opening stages of the second, pouring in nine of NSU's first 11 points to keep the Sharks on top by six. A timely three off the bench by freshman Shane Hunter once again made it a seven-point advantage. That margin would close to just one, though, at 72-71 following a Jalyn Hinton dunk. As the final result would eventually prove, however, NSU had an answer for each of the Mocs' spurts. Another Matthews bucket reopened a six-point lead with 8:39 left before it reached nine thanks to an old-fashioned three-point play by Smith. Still, despite holding onto a five-point advantage with 1:39 showing on the clock, FSC had a chance to tie with 57 seconds remaining in regulation. Luckily for the Sharks, SSC leading scorer Brett Hanson would miss both free throw attempts to keep it a two-point game. NSU would come up empty on the offensive end, only to watch Hanson cash in the next time down to send the contest into overtime.

OT | With all the momentum in favor of the Mocs, Zinaich quieted the crowd through the overtime period. Highlighted by a three-point play, the redshirt-senior tallied the first six points of the session, as NSU gathered a 103-97 lead. Unable to be slowed, he later added a lay-up with 45 seconds to go, finally putting the game out of reach with the Sharks up eight en route to tallying 11 points in the final five minutes.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

• The Sharks last trailed in Saturday's contest at the 16:02 mark of the first half.

UP NEXT:
NSU will look to carry the momentum into next Wednesday when it hits the road to take on Lynn, the team it knocked off to capture the NCAA South Region title in 2019. For complete coverage of the action, visit the schedule page on NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_MBasketball.