LAKELAND, Fla. – Florida Southern charged late in the second half but came up just shy of completing the upset of No. 2/1 Nova Southeastern in a 101-95 nailbiter at Streamline Sale Court inside the George W. Jenkins Field House Wednesday night. The Moccasins erased a double-digit lead late in the second half but could not keep the Sharks off the glass down the stretch.
"Nova Southeastern is an excellent team," head coach
Mike Donnelly said. "Not only are they very talented, but they are very tough, smart, and play extremely well together. We are a good team too."
Donnelly added, "We battled and felt we were right there. We know we have to go through them to get to where we want to go."
Florida Southern, receiving votes in the National Basketball Coaches Association (NABC) Division II Coaches Poll, moves to 20-6 overall and 11-6 in Sunshine State Conference standings. Nova Southeastern, the second-ranked team in the nation, improves to 24-1 overall and 16-1 in SSC play to secure the league regular season title.
Seven players contributed points for the Moccasins where six of the seven tallied double-digits with
Alex Steen leading the way with 24 points, completing his double-double with a game-high 14 rebounds.
Jadin Booth was close behind with 17 points while
Dominick Denny followed with 14,
Joe Moon IV with 13,
Peyton Gerald with 11, and
Kristians Feierbergs with 10.
Amare Miller closed the scoring end with six points off the bench.
Eight Sharks players scored, but MJ Iraldi tallied a game-high 31 points, edging Ryker Cisarik at 29. Dallas Graziani and Ross Reeves each scored 11.
The top two teams of the league standings battled tight for the opening 10 minutes where both teams saw leads in their favor. Nova Southeastern would push out to a six-point lead, 28-22 (10:22) the most by either team in the first half of the opening half. Physical play by Florida Southern saw the Moccasins rally to tie things at 34-34 with 6:53 to play. The two teams would play to a 43-43 tie with 4:09 to go as the Sharks closed the half outscoring the Mocs 12-6 to hold a 55-49 lead at the break.
Halftime adjustments by Nova Southeastern allowed the Sharks to push out to a double-digit lead up to the 15:13 mark of 12 points (67-55) the largest of the game. Florida Southern would erase three double-point deficits to tie the game at 71 as
Hugo Mattioli swiped off the Sharks pass finding
Kristians Feierbergs who slammed it home to tie the game. After an empty possession by the Sharks,
Amare Miller hauled down the defensive board before Feierbergs nailed a three to push the Mocs ahead 74-74 with 8:12 on the clock.
Florida Southern would again find a hole and trail by eight points, 96-88 with 1:36 to play, and close the gap with grit and determination. A three-point play by
Alex Steen brought the game to within just two points, 97-95 (0:54) which featured Steen stealing the inbounds pass in the Sharks' defensive side and slamming it home over MJ Iraldi drawing the and-one, which Steen converted.
With momentum and energy from the crowd behind the Mocs,
Dominick Denny picked Ryker Cisarik's pocket but a missed three gave the Sharks possession back. Nova Southeastern would convert four free throws down the stretch as Florida Southern missed three three-pointers in the final 20 seconds, falling 101-95.
Florida Southern will look to bounce back and close its home portion of the 2024-25 season on Saturday, Feb. 22, at 6 p.m. against Saint Leo (10-15, 5-12 SSC). The Moccasins will also honor their seniors before tip-off against the Lions.
