Relentless Raiders’ effort leads to big 84-54 victory over the Indians

NICEVILLE, FL - To say the No. 4 nationally-ranked Raiders were locked in from the jump would be putting it mildly.  Early on, NWF set the tone with tough defense, line-to-line hustle, and red-hot shooting, especially from freshman Brennan Rigsby.  Those factors, combined with a raucous home crowd, sparked NWF to a huge 84-54 win over #6 Chipola in Raider Arena to improve their record to 18-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.

The first five minutes seemed like two prize fighters sparring to figure each other out.  Midway thru the first half, the Raiders started landing blows via defensive stops and 3-point barrages, leading to a convincing 44-26 advantage at halftime.

When the second half began, Chipola was determined to put pressure on the home team and they did just that, cutting the NWF lead to single digits just several minutes into the period.  But in keeping with the boxing analogy, the Raiders went for the knockout blow that sparked a key run to pull away from the Indians for good.  NWF never trailed in the contest and sent the Raider faithful home happy knowing their team performed brilliantly against the #6-ranked team in the country.

Rigsby led all scorers with 23 points and was a big reason for the incredible 3-point shooting percentage the Raiders tallied of 58%.  He made 7 of his 9 attempts and only missed four shots for the entire game.  Kam Woods sparked the late 2^nd half run and ended the game with 15 points.  Michael Jefferson added 10 and Tre Clark posted a double-double with 10 points and 10 assists. 

Northwest Florida will look to maintain their momentum as they travel to Tallahassee Community College on Saturday, January 8^th.  Game time will be at 4:00pm eastern, 3:00pm central.

For more information on Northwest Florida State athletics, visit NWFRaiders.com or follow @NWFRaiders on Twitter.