WADLEY, Ala. — No. 2 Northwest Florida State men’s basketball dominated Southern Union on the road tonight, winning 101-72. Even without their leading scorer, DJ Shine, the Raiders found scoring from multiple players. Jonas Nichols led the way with 22 points, while Christian Reid set a season-high with 17 points. Braylon Roman added 14, and Wes Rubin contributed 11, giving the team a balanced offensive effort.
FIRST HALF
Northwest Florida State got off to a slow start, falling behind 9-7 early as Southern Union knocked down a three and capitalized on a few easy looks inside. Playing without leading scorer DJ Shine, the Raiders searched for an offensive rhythm before Jeiminson Marquez‘s defensive spark—a blocked shot and a steal—helped shift momentum.
That energy fueled a 9-0 Raider run that lasted until the 10:25 mark, giving the Raiders a 20-11 lead, before the Bison finally broke through with a put-back layup. NWF responded quickly, with Marquez and Pierce scoring on back-to-back drives to push the lead to 23-13. Moments later, Jonas Nichols buried a wing three, stretching the advantage to 27-13 and forcing a Southern Union timeout with 8:45 remaining.
The Bison cut the deficit back to eight with a three of their own at 7:32, but the Raiders continued to attack. Justin Burns scored inside off a feed from Johnny Pierce, Rubin added a free throw, and Vann-Kelly converted a steal into a coast-to-coast layup, extending the lead to 34-23. Braylon Roman then drained a corner three off a De’Erick Barber assist, and Rubin added another bucket to push the margin to 39-25.
Southern Union responded with a brief run, taking advantage of Raider turnovers and a missed shot to trim the lead to eight. But NWF answered again: Nichols knocked down another top-of-the-key three at the 2:25 mark, and Christian Reid cleaned up a Roman miss for a second-chance layup, giving the Raiders their largest lead of the half at 15. That cushion held the rest of the way, as Northwest Florida took a 50-35 advantage into the locker room.
SECOND HALF
Northwest Florida opened the second half with full control, as Wes Rubin powered in the first basket to stretch the Raiders’ lead to 17. Although the Bison responded with back-to-back scores—including an and-one—to trim the margin to 12, the Raiders quickly regrouped. Jonas Nichols converted an inbound layup, and despite a Southern Union three on the other end, NWF kept its double-digit cushion intact.
Johnny Pierce extended the lead again with a wide-open layup off a perfectly executed pick-and-roll with Braylon Roman, prompting a Bison timeout with the Raiders up 56–43. Out of the break, Christian Reid delivered a momentum-swinging and-one finish, knocking down the free throw to push the margin to 18. Nichols followed with his third three-pointer of the game, putting the Raiders ahead 64–43 with just over 13 minutes remaining.
The Raiders’ dominance on the offensive glass continued to pay off as Reid cleaned up a miss for another second-chance basket. NWF led 68–51 at the media timeout and kept the pressure on from there. Nichols added another bucket off a Rubin rebound and assist, before Marquez punctuated the stretch with a breakaway dunk, extending the lead to 74–53 with 9:30 to play.
The Raiders’ depth and pace overwhelmed the Bison down the stretch. A decisive 16–4 run that started at the under-12 media timeout blew the game wide open, pushing the lead to 84–55. NWF crossed the 100-point mark in the final minutes as they closed out a commanding 101–72 win, improving to 7–0 on the season.
UP NEXT
The Raiders will have the remainder of the weekend off before gearing up for one of their toughest stretches of the season. Next week features a challenging three-game slate at the Pensacola Thanksgiving Classic, where NWF will square off against two nationally ranked opponents and another receiving votes. The Raiders open the event on Monday against No. 24 Wallace Hanceville, followed by a matchup with RV Panola on Tuesday, and will close out the week on Wednesday with a showdown against defending national champion and No. 8-ranked Trinity Valley.
