Florida National devoured by NCAA DII Sharks

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (Nov. 20, 2024) — The Conquistadors (0-5) were outmatched Wednesday by the NCAA DII No. 1-ranked Nova Southeastern University Sharks (6-0) 120-64. The 56-point loss marks the second and final exhibition defeat for the Conquistadors this season.

Nova entered this home contest opposite the Conquistadors with an impressive 104-87 road victory against the University of Montevallo on Nov. 9. The 11-day hiatus did nothing to extinguish a fiery Shark offense, as NSU ended its sixth victory of the year shooting 55%. Five Sharks posted double-figure points in the Shark's largest victory so far in 2024.

Caelum Ethridge was the driving force behind 11 of FNU's 31 points in the first half. The Conquistadors trailed by 27 heading into the break after 6-6 graduate student MJ Iraldi exploded for 17 points on 6-12 shooting from the floor. Despite shooting bricks from the three-point line, at 1-12 for the half, the Sharks went 21-23 from close range.

On a positive note, Cameron Johnson returned to action after sitting out FNU's 80-71 loss to Palm Beach Atlantic University. FNU's leading scorer had eight points in the frame, and FNU looked to recover from the Sharks' early blows in the second half. When play resumed, however, NSU put the finishing touches on another impressive victory. Taking that new No. 1 ranking for a spin, Nova shot 60% from the field. They were paced by Alex Mangold's 12-point half, driven by a perfect 5-5 performance from the floor.

Ethridge and Johnson combined for 22 of FNU's 33 points in the second. For Jeremy Arnum, it was a quiet night of five points and two rebounds after averaging 21 points in his last two contests. The Sharks dominated the glass, out rebounding FNU 46-32. This victory improves Nova to 4-0 against FNU overall and marks the largest margin of victory for the NCAA DII standouts over the Conquistadors.

Up Next: FNU will participate in the Keiser University Thanksgiving Classic starting Nov 26 with a 6 p.m. game against University of the Virgin Islands.

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Players Mentioned

#1 Jeremy Arnum: G; 6' 5"; Sophomore

#23 Caelum Ethridge: G/F; 6' 6"; Sophomore

#5 Cameron Johnson: G; 6' 4"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#1 Jeremy Arnum
: 6' 5"; Sophomore
: G

#23 Caelum Ethridge
: 6' 6"; Sophomore
: G/F

#5 Cameron Johnson
: 6' 4"; Junior
: G

Florida National University

Scoreboard

Florida National devoured by NCAA DII Sharks

Players Mentioned

#1 Jeremy Arnum

#23 Caelum Ethridge

#5 Cameron Johnson

Players Mentioned

#1 Jeremy Arnum

#23 Caelum Ethridge

#5 Cameron Johnson