#6 NWF takes down Chipola 68-63 to clinch a share of Panhandle crown

NICEVILLE, FL - From start to finish, the primetime, top-10 matchup between conference rivals Northwest Florida State College and Chipola College lived up to the billing.  Both teams were hungry for crucial win in what was the rubber match of the regular season series, with each earning a home win in the previous two matchups.  In shaped out to a physical battle that featured 50 foul calls combined, which actually led to 3 Raider starters fouling out midway through the fourth quarter, it was Northwest Florida who continued to make plays down the stretch to outlast the Indians 68-63.  The win propelled the Raiders to at least a share of their fourth consecutive conference championship and improve their record to 22-2 overall and 8-2 in conference play.

The Raiders showed they meant business early on in the contest, especially on the defensive end.  NWF clamped down the Indians in the first quarter, limiting them to just 6 points after the game's first 10 minutes of action.  The result was a 9-point lead (15-6) that allowed Northwest Florida to play with a cushion the remainder of the game, which proved necessary after mini Chipola runs throughout the game's final 3 quarters.  Despite the game being close to the final buzzer, the Raiders actually led the entire ballgame thanks to that aforementioned defense and timely baskets when Chipola would make their runs. 

With the several key contributors battling foul trouble all evening, the Raiders leaned on Last-Tear Poa for the bulk of their scoring load.  Poa tallied a game-high 26 points, 11 of which came from the free-throw line.  Shelbee Brown and Sabou Gueye each added 10 points and Noelani Cornfield chipped in 9 key points with two momentum shifting 3-point baskets when the margin was narrowing. 

Northwest Florida will return to action when they travel to Tallahassee on Saturday, February 12 for a 2:00 p.m. central tip-off. 

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