MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Sunshine State Conference released their Player of the Week award recipients for the week ending on Feb. 6, three Nova Southeastern student-athletes earned awards. RJ Sunahara, Sekou Sylla and Duncan Pastore earned honors for the Sharks.
Set to become the new No. 1 team in DII, Sylla carried the undefeated Sharks to two more commanding wins this week. The forward ran his double-double streak to four in a row (12 on the season) by averaging 24.5 points on 63.0% shooting and 83.3% at the foul line to go along with 13.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals. Sylla recorded a dominant 31-point, 14-rebound effort as the Sharks beat a nationally-ranked Barry team by double digits for the second time this season. He scored 19 of his 31 in the second half, including seven straight points for the Sharks to diffuse Barry’s second-half push. Sylla then added 18 points and 12 boards in just 23 minutes against Florida Tech, scoring 12 points in the opening 6:39 of the second half to put the game away early. Sylla leads the SSC in scoring with 22.7 points per game.
Sekou has earned Sunshine State honors for the third-time during the 2021-22 season.
Sunahara elevated his game this week to help lead the undefeated Sharks to a pair of commanding wins over Barry and Florida Tech. The forward did it all, averaging 8.0 rebounds, 4.5 blocks and 2.0 steals per game to go along with 21.5 points and 4.5 assists and 59.3% field goal shooting (and 3-of-5 from 3-point range), just for good measure. Against No. 22 Barry, Sunahara notched an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double while setting a new career high with six blocks. The effort also set a new program record for most blocks in a season. Against Florida Tech, he then added three more blocks and two steals while pouring in a game-high 25 points to carry the Sharks to 20 wins for a third straight season. Sunahara leads the league in blocks.
Sunahara garnered SSC recognition for the second-time this year and third time in his NSU career.
Pastore made an emphatic return to the Sharks lineup, slashing an unbelievable 0.800/0.867/1.700 to power Nova Southeastern to a perfect 3-0 start to the 2022 season. After a injury kept him out for the entire 2021 season, the redshirt-sophomore recorded multiple hits and RBI in two games and multiple runs in all three. In total, he drove in nine runs, hit three doubles and a pair of home runs, tallied two stolen bases and scored eight times. Nova Southeastern opened the year with a 13-3 victory over No. 20 Catawba, Pastore led the way for NSU, going 4-4 with five runs batted in and a home run. Pastore followed that performance with a 3-4 day against the Cardinals of Wheeling. He blasted his second home run of the weekend to give the Sharks a lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. The home runs were the first two of his career, while the nine RBI and 50% more than the six he had in 22 games in the 2020 season.
The first Sunshine State Conference Player of the Week award of the 2022 baseball season, this is also the first of Pastore’s career.
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