Miami Gardens, Fla. – In front of a raucous Fernandez Center crowd, no. 16 St. Thomas defeated Florida Memorial 72-65 for a season sweep over its backyard rival and a 13^th consecutive win.  The Bobcats improved to 14-6 overall, 7-1 in conference and a perfect 7-0 at home.

Senior forward David Nesbitt led the Bobcats with 12 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double on the year. 

“The double-double is always nice but we have a lot to improve on,” said Nesbitt. “Hopefully we will get better and make a run for the conference championship.”
With 5:32 remaining in the game, Nesbitt slammed home a electrifying, two-handed dunk on a pass from senior guard Eugene Davis to make the score 59-50 and send the Bobcat crowd into a fury.

“David is a special player,” said Head Coach Clark Maloney. ”Coaches wait a long time to coach a player like him.”

Sophomore guard Kevin Hincapie scored 17 points, registered four steals, and was 13-of-14 from the free throw line. 

Off the bench, junior forward Chuck Sanders scored 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field.  As a team, the Bobcat bench scored 31 points.

St. Thomsa led 34-31 at halftime and came out with a furious 13-2 run to build a lead of 47-33 at 14:59.  STU led 62-52 at 3:34, but its lead was quickly cut to four with two back-back three-pointers by Adrian White. 

In the final minute, Florida Memorial would cut the lead to three points, 68-65 with 46 seconds remaining.  Four consecutive free throws by Hincapie sealed the deal for the Bobcats.
 
The Bobcats return to action on Monday, Jan. 30 at Johnson & Wales.  The next home game for STU is Thursday, February 2 vs. Northwood, the second-ranked team in the nation and the last team to defeat the Bobcats.