NORTH MIAMI, Fla. ( Nov. 21, 2022) – After unforeseen circumstances pushed Florida National’s men’s basketball team’s November 19 contest against the University of Fort Lauderdale’s Eagles on the road with a Monday 4 p.m. tip, the Conquistadors fell short of a victory for the fourth time this season. The Eagles’ solid second-half performance landed them their first win of the year and improves their overall record to 1-4, while FNU drops to 1-4.
The first twenty minutes of regulation were neck-and-neck, as FNU went into halftime with just a 41-36 lead. Florida National was shooting in the high fifties for the half going 14-25 from the field. The Conquistadors also went 5-11 from behind the three-point line but their largest lead of the half was stunted at six.
Matthew Robinson had 11 points in the half and ended the night with a team-high 22 points. Nicolas Girondin was the second Conquistadors to put up a double-digit half with 12 points. Despite some great offensive spark from key contributors, FNU was unable to stop steady production from Fort Lauderdale, as Trandon Smith, Jahism Floyd and Romario Pierre all put up single-digit halves and crashed the boards.
The Eagles came out with a fire on offense in the second half, as a three-point bucket courtesy of Pierre just under a minute into the half cut FNU’s lead to just three. Following a couple of trips to the free throw line, a jumper from Kemari Brown gave Fort Lauderdale a 42-41 lead with 17 minutes left in the half.
The Eagles could not seem to miss as they went 20-35 from the field and went a comfortable 11-16 from the charity stripe. Fort Lauderdale out-rebounded the Conquistadors 17-11 and had 30 bench points for the evening. FNU struggled to get production from their reserves as only three points were recorded from FNU’s bench. The Eagles pushed the pace and nailed 22 points off turnovers and 14 fastbreak points in the second half to solidify a 14-point victory over the visiting Conquistadors.
Up Next: The Conquistadors will have their long-awaited home opener November 22 at 2 p.m. against Webber International.
