MELBOURNE, Fla. – Less than 24 hours after its record-setting win over Rollins, the Nova Southeastern men's basketball program has placed a pair of players on the respective All-Sunshine State Conference teams, announced by the league office Wednesday afternoon. Mark Matthews made his second straight appearance as an All-SSC First Team member, while RJ Sunahara was selected as the SSC Freshman of the Year in addition to being named to the All-SSC Newcomer Team.

The lone player in the SSC to repeat as a First-Team performer, Matthews has the credentials to once again be recognized as an All-American by season's end. The redshirt senior has already landed on the Bevo Francis Award Top 50 Watch List, and continues to be the go-to guy for the nation's No. 2 scoring offense (101.9 ppg). In 27 starts this season, Matthews ranks among the Top-3 in the SSC in: scoring (21.5 ppg), field goal percentage (0.619) and assists (5.3 apg), while his 7.2 rebounds per game are tied for ninth. He has scored in double figures in all but one contest, including a program-record, 45-point performance against Palm Beach Atlantic on Jan. 15, and in less than two seasons has become one of just 16 NSU players to surpass 1,000 career points.

"I'm extremely happy for Mark," said NSU head coach Jim Crutchfield. "For as hard as he works, this honor is well deserved. His game has grown since he's gotten here, and he's proven himself as not only one of the most versatile players in the league, but in the country."

Sunahara becomes the fourth NSU player to collect Freshman of the Year honors, and first since Malik Hardy took home the award in 2017-18, following a campaign in which he's posted averages of 13.2 points and 7.1 rebounds to go along with a team-high 1.6 blocks per game. Alongside Matthews, the Bay Village, Ohio product has given the Sharks arguably the SSC's top frontcourt, using his length and leaping ability to affect the game on both ends of the floor. Tabbed the SSC Player of the Week back on Feb. 10, Sunahara has notched seven double-doubles thus far in 2019-20, and has reached double-digit points in eight of the past nine games entering Thursday's SSC Tournament semifinal matchup versus PBA.   

"RJ has been an instant impact player in his first season with us," Crutchfield. "The award shows the type of ability and potential he has. I hope something like this continues to drive him because I think he may only be beginning to scratch the surface."

Florida Southern collected three of the league's major awards, as Brett Hanson (SSC Player of the Year), Jalyn Hinton (SSC Defensive Player of the Year) and Mike Donnelly (SSC Coach of the Year) were each recognized after leading the Moccasins to the SSC regular season championship. Embry-Riddle's Romeo Crouch was tabbed SSC Newcomer of the Year.

For a complete list of the All-SSC Teams, visit sunshinestateconferece.com.