HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Montevallo men's basketball dropped its opening game of the Zac Richards era to No. 1 Nova Southeastern in the opening day of the Gulf South/Sunshine State Conference Crossover.
Both sides got out to a slow start offensive with seven missed threes combined in the opening four minutes as the Sharks took an 8-2 lead at the 15:49 mark. NSU knocked down the first triple of the game just moments later to open an 11-2 run that left Montevallo trailing 19-4 with 13 minutes left in the half.
Tyler Mallory ended the run with his first triple of the night, but the top-ranked Sharks would stretch the lead out to 31-9 with just over nine minutes left in the half. In the final five minutes of the first half,
Kaleb Carson knocked down a pair of threes to match Mallory in the duo's Montevallo debut half, but NSU would hold a 56-31 lead heading into the break.
Out of the half,
Reese Gurner found his first bucket of the night to open Montevallo's second half scoring. An put-back from
Dominic Commisso tallied the transfer's fourth board of the half and his eighth point of the night with 16:12 left to go. An 18-3 Nova Southeastern run over the next seven minutes stretched the Sharks' lead out to 84-43 midway through the second.
Carson Pringle and
Mehkai Menefee lead Montevallo's scoring down the stretch with seven points from Pringle and five from Menefee. Nova Southeastern would hold to its advantage and take a 102-64 win over Montevallo.
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Montevallo 64 | No. 1 Nova Southeastern 102
Records: Montevallo 0-1 | No. 1 Nova Southeastern 1-0
Location: SportsMed Arena | Huntsville, Ala.
GAME NOTES
- Montevallo was held to just 30.6-percent shooting on the night while going 7-of-25 from lone range.
- The two sides were dead even on the glass with both teams ripping down 46 rebounds while the Falcons took an 18-14 advantage in offensive boards.
- The Falcons recorded a total of 23 turnovers on the night to just seven from the Sharks while NSU scored 27 points off UM turnovers.
- Dominic Commisso led Montevallo with 12 points and eight rebounds while shooting 40-percent from the floor.
- Carson Pringle added 12 points on a 3-for-6 clip from the floor and a 6-for-7 mark at the stripe while adding four rebounds.
- Kaleb Carson added six rebounds for the Falcons to go along with eight points.
UP NEXT: Montevallo closed the GSC/SSC Crossover on Saturday, Nov. 14 at 4 p.m. when the Falcons take on Barry.
