DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – No. 22 Northwest Florida State College pulled away from Santa Fe men's basketball in the second half in the two teams' matchup on Day 1 of the Florida College Shootout, hosted by Daytona State College.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Saints came out confidently in the opening half, hitting seven three-pointers to hang tight with the Raiders.

NWF led 21-18 with about 11:54 on the clock, when the Saints started a string of nine unanswered points to go ahead, 27-21. Four different Saints scored in the run, with Nasir Mann and Cole Deptula each converting from beyond the arc,

SF was in front 30-26 after a long ball from Jalen Speer, but a 10-0 run put the Raiders back in front, and the Raiders went into the halftime break with a 40-35 edge.

Deptula was the leading offensive catalyst for the Saints, pouring in 15 first-half points on 4-of-5 shooting from three-point territory.

SF was never really able to threaten the Raiders in the second half, however, and NWF seemed to take the wind out of the Saints' sails with a 14-2 run when the clock had gone under ten minutes to play.

UPDATED RECORDS

#22 Northwest Florida – 12-3

Santa Fe – 6-4

STATISTICS

SF was outrebounded in this one, and NWF held the Saints to just a 38.1 shooting percentage.

Deptula's 18 points was a new career-high, as the sharpshooter went 6-of-9 from the field and 5-of-7 from downtown.

Nikolaos Noumeros contributed ten points and a team-high ten rebounds for his third consecutive double-double and fourth of the season. 

UP NEXT

SF will play Hillsborough on Sunday at 7:30 p.m. on Day 2 of the FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII Shootout, as hosted by Daytona State College.

The Hawks beat the Saints by a 95-81 score on Nov. 16 in Tampa, Fla.