No. 18 Lynn Men's Basketball's Stellar Season Capped in NCAA Sweet 16

March 19, 2019

Men’s Basketball

Nova Southeastern 89, Lynn 74

Fort Lauderdale, Fla. – It was a special season for a special team and senior class but the magic ended Tuesday night as the 18^th-ranked and third-seeded Lynn University men’s basketball team fell to fourth-ranked and top-seeded Nova Southeastern in the NCAA South Region Championship, 89-74. Michael Baez and Jamal Palmer were both named to the South Region All-Tournament Team.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP:

Final: NSU 89, Lynn 74

Records: #4 NSU (29-3), #18 Lynn (25-7)

Location: Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Series History: Lynn leads 23-20 (NSU won all three matchups this season)

Get Social: Twitter – @Lynn_Knights | Instagram – @Lynn_Knights | Facebook – /LynnFightingKnights

STATS OF THE GAME:

· Palmer, a fourth-year senior, left it all out on the court as the Delray Beach, Fla, native tallied career-highs in both points (29) and rebounds (10) for his first career double-double.

· Baez rounded out a dynamite tournament with an 18-point, nine-rebound performance. Baez and Palmer combined for seven of the team’s nine 3-pointers.

· Darius Moore added 12 points, five boards and three assists off the bench.

· Rasheed Worrell got off to a hot start inside, finishing the night with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting to go along with seven rebounds.

· Daniel Cooper was perfect from the field (3-3), chipping in seven points, six boards, two steals and a block.

· Brandon Bornelus struggled from the field but led all players in the game with six assists.

· NSU’s David Dennis had an excellent all-around game, registering 28 points, six boards, five assists, two steals and a block.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:

· This season was the program’s sixth time qualifying for the NCAA Tournament and fifth trip to the Sweet 16 for the Fighting Knights since they joined the NCAA in 1997 (’97, ’98, ’05 and ’14). It is the fourth trip to the Round of 16 for Lynn under head coach Jeff Price.

· Joining Palmer and Baez on the South Region All-Tournament Team was NSU’s Dennis (MVP) and Mark Matthews, along with Florida Southern’s Slinky Jones.

· NSU won all three of the team’s matchups this year and was the only team to sweep the Fighting Knights in the regular-season series. The margin of victory in the two regular-season contests was a measly six combined points.

· Palmer averaged 28.3 points in the three games against the Sharks this season. He tallied the three-highest scoring outputs of his career in those three games.

· Palmer closes out his Lynn tenure with 1,385 career points and was the 12^th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point plateau earlier this season.

· Baez closed out the season with 15+ points in 13 consecutive games. He averaged 25.0 points per game in the three NCAA South Region contests.

· The Blue and White graduate a large and impactful senior class in Palmer, Baez, Cooper, Worrell, Ryan Peterson and Morgan Garrison.