Box Score WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Polk State Basketball responded to a tough loss Wednesday night with an impressive performance in its Citrus Conference opener on Saturday afternoon. The Eagles rode a second half surge to surpass Miami Dade College, 86-79.
Polk State (9-5, 1-0 Citrus) shot lights out from the perimeter, finishing the contest at a 57.9% (11-for-19) clip from three-point range. On the defensive side, the Eagles forced 17 Miami Dade turnovers, on which Polk capitalized for 28 points while minimizing the Sharks takeaways to six on the afternoon.
"This was a great overall team victory," shared Polk State Head Coach Brandon Giles. "I thought our guys did a good job of playing their role and executing when it was time for them to step up."
Sophomore guard
Dominick Nelson logged his seventh 20-plus point game of the season, finishing with a team-high 22 (7-for-15). Nelson also led the way for the Eagles in rebounds (6), assists (5), and blocks (2).
Freshman forward
Cole White muscled his way to 20 points, shooting 50% (9-for-18) in the paint.
Both teams got off to high-powered offensive starts, with a total of 15 different individuals making a basket in the first half between the two teams. The Sharks shot just slightly more efficiently in the first half (59.3%) than the Eagles (55.2%) to guide them to a narrow 45-40 lead heading into halftime.
Miami Dade seemed poised to run away with the contest out the gate in the second half, opening up things on a 7-0 run to take its largest lead of the game at 52-40.
Despite the Eagles trying to whittle away at the deficit, Polk still found itself down by 10 (66-56) with 11:01 remaining. However, Polk State retaliated with a monster 15-0 run of its own. Eight of the 15 points scored on that run came from freshman center
Nathan Andrice, which was the entirety of his scoring throughout the game.
Polk continued to pile on the points while stifling Miami Dade on the defensive glass, leading by as many as 14 down the stretch before ultimately closing out the game.
The Eagles continue Citrus play at home on Wednesday against Hillsborough Community College. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
