Raiders use huge fourth quarter to race past Chipola in route to regional finals

NICEVILLE, FL - After surviving a scare on Thursday against Hillsborough in the quarterfinals, the Raiders entered Friday's semifinal with a determination to play a much cleaner game on both ends of the floor.  Part of that was from the frustration of the previous night and wanting to avenge that performance.  But a larger part of the motivation was that NWF knew it had to play extremely well to get past a familiar, tough opponent in conference foe Chipola.  Once the game started, it was apparent the Raiders had a different look to them than their previous outing.  A sterling performance resulted in a huge 68-51 win over the Indians, which propelled Northwest Florida into the regional finals on Saturday night.

While the Raiders ending up winning 3 out of the 4 periods in the game, the contest was very much in doubt heading into the final quarter.  NWF held onto a slim 4-point advantage despite having led for almost the entirety of the previous three quarters.  Chipola closed the third period with a mini run and the Raiders had to settle into what was shaping out to be another nail bitter between the two storied programs. 

When the fourth quarter began, the Raiders seemingly wasted no time it asserting themselves and blowing the doors open.  Northwest Florida forced many Indian turnovers in the period (25 overall) and got tons of shots at the rim thanks to dribble penetration and excellent ball movement.  All of that combined to equal a stellar closing quarter for the Raiders, outscoring Chipola 23-10 to close out the game and send NWF into the regional finals.

Last-Tear Poa led the Raiders in scoring with 19 points.  Sabou Gueye came off the bench to score 15 points, which was huge with several NWF players battling foul trouble for most of the game.  Masengo Mutanda had another double digit scoring effort with 10.

Northwest Florida will compete in the FCSAA/NJCAA Region VIII Championship game on Saturday evening at 7:30 in Raider Arena.

To get all of the latest scores and information, be sure to follow the tournament's Twitter account @RegionVIIIHoops.