Men’s Basketball
On Jan. 5 the Sharks defeated Florida Tech 82-62 for the 12 consecutive win for the season. In the first minutes of the game, the Sharks took the lead 7-0 with a lay-in by sophomore Nick Smith. Junior Mikkel Kolstad earned a season-high of 22 points in 24 minutes of play. In the 12 minute of the game, junior Mark Matthews made a free throw which pushed the lead 21-10. In the last minutes of the half, the Shark’s defense limited Florida Tech to only two field goals which left the Sharks with a 34-21 lead at half-time. In the second half, a corner three-pointer by Smith pushed the lead to 16 points. Florida Tech pushed the margin back to eight points but a triple by Smith kept the advantage. A 10 point lead was kept for a majority of the game but NSU earned another 10 unanswered points to secure a win. Matthews earned his third double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds. This win erased a previous four-game losing streak to Florida Tech.
Men’s Swimming
To start off the 2019 season on the right foot, the Sharks topped Carson Newman on the Jan. 5 dual at the NSU Aquatic Center. The men’s 200 medley A-squad of freshman Zachary Milke, senior Cory Klemm, junior Magnus Poulsen, and sophomore Jonathan Yanello took first with a time of 1:33.83. The men’s freestyle relay of sophomore Alec Dawson, Yanello, Poulsen and freshman Martin Hemminghyth had a winning time of 1:24.70. Dawson won the 100 freestyle in 46.68. With a time of 23.56 in the men’s 50 backstroke, Poulsen took the win. Sophomore Matteo Masiero took the 200 butterfly with a 1:52.67 finish while Yanello took the men’s 50 free with a finish of 21.42. Junior Vincent Lijoi won the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:42.58.
Women’s Basketball
On Jan. 5, the women’s basketball team suffered a loss to Florida Tech in a close game with a final score of 58-59. In the first quarter, Florida Tech took the lead 11-3 but the Sharks brought the deficit to six points with a layup by freshman Maria Bardeeva. Florida Tech came back with another nine points but a three-pointer by graduate student Christen Prasse brought it again to a six-point deficit with Tech in the lead, 17-11. In the second quarter, a layup by junior Jordan Tully opened up scoring but Florida Tech took the 13-6 run to get the largest lead of the game with 30-19. Sophomore Taylor Smith’s layup later sparked a 6-1 NSU run bringing the lead down again to a six-point lead with a score of 31-25. In the third quarter, the Sharks exploded with a 14-0 run with a layup by Tully to finish it up and put NSU on top 39-33. Prasse’s three-pointer gave the Sharks the largest lead of the game with 42-35 with three minutes left on the clock. Florida Tech pushed it back by the end of the quarter 44-41. In the fourth, there were six ties in total but the Sharks were able to stay on top. Senior Alison Hughes jumper at the 1:20 mark was the last lead for the Sharks. Later in the game with the Panthers ahead 59-56, the Sharks needed a three-pointer to go into overtime but a layup by Bardeeva was the last effort, leaving the Sharks a point shy for a 59-58 loss.
Women’s Swimming
The Sharks took the Carson Newman matchup with a final score of 186.5-56.5. NSU’s A-team of senior Suzanne Afchain, junior Kaylee Gassen, sophomore Jenna Johns and freshman Amilia Nusbaum took the first win of the day in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:48.06. In the 200 freestyle relay sophomore Laurel Fink, junior Caily Friel, Nusbaum and Johns finished with a time of 1:37.93 taking first. Sophomore Emma Sundstedt took the first individual win for the day in a 200 freestyle in 1:57.31. Sundstedt also took the 500 freestyle with a 5:10.27 finish. Johns took the women’s 50 backstroke with 26.67 and the top time in 50 butterfly in 25.97. Senior Caroline Oster took the 200 butterfly in 2:07.90 and picked up the 100 free with a 53.29 finish.
