NICEVILLE Toby Veal rose above the rim, caught a pass from teammate Sherrard Brantley and threw down a thunderous dunk while letting out a primal scream.

It was that kind of second half for the No. 7 Northwest Florida State College men's basketball team.

After getting bogged down in a physical first half and nursing a two-point lead at halftime, the Raiders thoroughly dominated No. 20 Chipola College in the second half of a 73-57 victory at Raider Gym.

The win helps the Raiders (21-2, 6-1 in Panhandle Conference) erase the taste of Saturday's loss to Tallahassee, their first conference loss of the season.

"We played a tremendous second half," NWF State coach Bruce Stewart said. "Defensively, I thought we did a great job of stopping their first shooters. Offensively, I think we did an outstanding job of executing and making shots. I couldn't be prouder."

NWF State had an extremely versatile attack, paced by Brantley's gamehigh 23 points. Those points largely came on a lethal 7-for-11 night from 3-point territory. Brian Bryant added 20 points, while Veal chipped in 13.

The Indians (17-6, 2-5) were able to contain the Raiders in the first half thanks to some physical defense and relatively cold shooting by NWF State. After halftime, the Raiders looked like a different team, jumping out on a 17-7 run to start the second half and the Indians never recovered.

Brantley's accuracy shooting 3-pointers was a major factor, and it's something that was missing in the Tallahassee loss. Four of his 3-pointers came in the first half when the Indians weren't allowing the Raiders to get the ball inside.

"We had a three-headed monster out there on offense between Sherrard, Brian and Toby," Stewart said. "Shooters like Sherrard are going to have off nights every once in a while like he did against Tallahassee. It's like a hitter in baseball going 0-for-4. It happens."