Late 2nd Half Surge Falls Just Short, NWF Defeated 75-74

MARIANNA, Fla. - The Northwest Florida Raiders battled until the last second, falling just short vs. Chipola 75-74 in The Milt on Saturday night.

The Raiders never gave up even when the Indians hit a deep 3 from the wing to go up 19 points with just over 7 minutes remaining in the game. Northwest Florida closed out the game on a 19-4 run in the final 4 minutes of the game but, the strong surge was not enough as the Raiders came up just short in the first game of the conference season.

Take Simpkins nailed a 3 from the timeline with 12.2 seconds left to pull the Raiders within 1. The Raiders defense stepped up and forced a turnover with 8.2 seconds remaining and were able to get a good look on the wing from Chad Baker-Mazara with the shot hitting the back iron and falling to the ground as #1 Chipola (19-0) stays undefeated after sneaking out a 75-74 win tonight.

Kasean Pryor had another great game for the Raiders as he tallied 19 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Tavion Banks was very efficient off the bench as he scored 17 points and grabbed 6 rebounds. Chad Baker-Mazara recorded 16 points.

#25 Northwest Florida (14-5) will look to bounce back on Wednesday, January 11 as they take on the Eagles of Tallahassee. Tallahassee (17-1) is ranked #6 in the country, with their only loss coming from Southern Union when they played in Raider Arena in week 2 of the season.

For more information on Northwest Florida Athletics, visit nwfraiders.com or follow @NWFRaiders on Twitter and Instagram.