WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. ( Nov. 16, 2022) – Florida National’s early season struggles continued as they fell 56-82 to the Palm Beach Atlantic in the Sailfishes’ first game of the season. The Conquistadors came into the contest with a 1-3 record after falling to Florida Memorial 73-84 November 10. PBA had their first two matches of the year canceled which made FNU’s visit to West Palm Beach, Fla. their first chance to hit the court in the 2022-23 season. And they did not disappoint.
In the first half PBA had a 38-28 lead courtesy of multiple starters contributing points from different areas of the court. Sailfishes Mariy Fletcher and Jahnae Midget both had six points on near-perfect shooting from the interior. Shooting a solid 54% from the field compared to another low 30% half from the Conquistadors put PBA in the driver’s seat from the first whistle. Despite a tough shooting half, FNU’s Kaylee Llanos continues a monster season recording 11 points in the first two periods. Florida National also coughed the ball over 10 times in the half but did a solid job underneath the basketball only getting outrebounded 19-16.
With just a 10-point lead, Florida National looked primed to make a run in the second before PBA went to work at putting some major distance between themselves and their opponent. Fletcher had nine points in the third quarter for PBA as FNU only had 10 points in the quarter. After getting outscored 10-21 in the third, FNU could not climb back into the match in the fourth before ultimately losing by 26.
Janelisse Marty Marrero had a solid game with 11 points as Llanos put up 11 on just 1-2 shooting from behind the three-point line. Natalie Larranaga had a team-high 12 points and six rebounds shooting 4-15 from the field.
Up Next: FNU hits the road once more this time to take on the University of Fort Lauderdale this Friday at 5 p.m.
