MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Sunshine State Conference announced its recipients of the Athletes of the Week earlier this afternoon. Nova Southeastern placed two on the list as women’s swimmer Savanna Best earned her second award of the season and her career, in addition to RJ Sunahara from Sharks men’s basketball earning his first honor.
Best is awarded Swimmer of the Week for the second time this season based on her performance at the Spartan Invitational. The South African helped set two SSC records and three Nova Southeastern program records. She was part of the 200 and 400 Medley Relay teams that set SSC records in 1:39.71 and 3:37.95, respectively. Individually, Best set the school record in the 200 Breast with a time of 2:13.62.
Sunahara garners Player of the Week accolades by leading NSU to a 3-0 record last week. The forward from Bay Village, Ohio, scored a game-high 25 points and pulled in eight rebounds as NSU took a 117-79 victory over Ave Maria to begin the week. Sunahara then scored a game-high 30 points and hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds against Georgian Court during a 111-82 Shark win. The sophomore went on to score 18 points and pull down eight rebounds in Nova Southeastern’s 93-88 overtime win against Virginia Union. Sunahara totaled 73 points by shooting 74% from the field (26-35) and 91% from the free-throw line (21-23). He averaged 30.6 minutes, 24.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 3.3 blocks, and 2.3 steals across the three contests. The weekly award is the second of his career.
This week’s awards were the final from the Sunshine State Conference until 2021.
