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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team will attempt to win its program record eighth straight game this Saturday, Jan. 15 when the Sharks (10-4, 3-1 SSC) hit the road to face Eckerd in St. Petersburg, Fla. at 4 p.m.

The Sharks are heading into one of their toughest games of the season after just escaping in their seventh straight win at home against Barry, 75-73, this past Wednesday. With 0.4 seconds, Robert Huntington (Jr., Perth, Australia) drained a game–winning tip-in that sealed the Sharks’ third conference victory.

“Note first of all…we have beaten Barry three straight,” said head coach Gary Tuell. “Thank Rob Huntington. At Barry last year, down 72-71, Rob drained a three pointer with three seconds to play that won the game for us, 74-72. In the return game at our place, Rob scored our final six points, including an old-fashioned three-point play with 34 seconds to go that gave us an 80-79 lead. After a Barry misfire, Rob tacked on the final point with one second to play in an 81-79 victory. And of course there was last night’s finish with his put-back at 0.4 seconds. How’s that for a Barry killer?

“On top of that, all three of our last three against them have been two-point wins for us. Talk about a guy coming up big down the stretch in three games with Barry, that’s just amazing. I’m not sure any team here has beaten a Barry team three straight meetings in any sport, but for sure we have never done it in basketball. Now that is a good winning streak!”

Huntington’s game-winner kept the Sharks alive on a night when they were not at their best. They shot a below average 40 percent from the field and only made four three-pointers, subpar for a team that averages nearly 10 a game. The game marked the first time the Sharks have won this season when only two players, Huntington and Alex Gynes (Sr., Nowra, Australia), scored in double-figures. Despite all this, the Sharks came away with their seventh straight win.

“It’s always nice when you win, but we made enough mental and physical mistakes down the stretch against Barry – and every time by a different senior – to lose the game,” said Tuell. “You expect seniors to make good decisions in close games, but that wasn’t the case for us. Barry was as good as I thought they would be and you have to congratulate their guys for their effort. This was not our best effort by any measure, but some of that is because of the Barry kids.

“I am pleased that we won and that would not have happened without some determined efforts by Rob, Alex Gynes and the Dyer brothers, Lemar (Sr., Miami, Fla.) and Darien (So., Miami, Fla.). Barry brought the fight to us, and those four guys responded. We need the rest of our guys to follow their lead if we hope to run with the leaders in the SSC. We have a lot of guys who are capable of competing at a high level, but it can’t be a ‘sometime thing.’ You have to be prepared every night in this league to compete, and you can’t beat the best teams in this league without everyone giving that same determined effort.”

The Sharks will now play a road game for the first time in over a month against a Triton team that is 6-1 on their home floor. Eckerd fields an efficient offensive team that leads the Sunshine State Conference with a .497 field goal percentage. Last season Eckerd ended NSU’s year by defeating the Sharks in the first round of the SSC Tournament.

“Eckerd man-handled us the last two times we faced them last season,” said Tuell. “And both teams return basically the same players, so it will be interesting to see if our team has gotten tougher physically and mentally over the course of the year or if we’re going to wilt under their tremendous athleticism. No one in the league has a bigger, deeper, more athletic team than Eckerd. They will test your manhood and if you’re not ready for that, then you may as well not bother to get on the bus.

“Tommy Ryan has done an excellent job with his team. His guys execute their offense in the half court as well as anyone in the league. And they are a very imposing presence defensively. They get a bad rap sometimes for their physical, man-to-man defense, but when I watch them play I just see a group of very good athletes playing the game the right way and playing very hard. I have great respect for Tommy and his program and look forward to the challenge. This will definitely be the toughest challenge for us since we faced Valdosta State up at Valdosta in December.”

On the line will be NSU’s seventh game winning streak, tying the longest streak the Sharks have had under Tuell. A win on the road against Eckerd would set the record for most consecutive wins in a season at NSU. Despite this bit of program history on the line, Tuell is keeping his team grounded and focused on what’s important.

“The winning streak has been nice because it means we’ve improved and for the most part, we have guys who are dedicated and committed to getting better,” said Tuell. “But we have a long, long way to go. And honestly, the winning streak is modest compared to most good programs. When you win 15 or 20 in a row, now THAT is a winning streak. We’ve just had a good few weeks, and fortunately we’ve played at home. You really don’t have a winning streak until you’ve gone on the road and won tough games.

“There’s such a fine line in this league between winning and losing. Injuries certainly impact winning and losing, perhaps more than anything else in our sport. And early in the conference race you can’t get too happy or too low based on your record. Some teams that look like they’re struggling may just be playing some of the very best teams in the league on the road, and it’s always difficult to beat the upper echelon teams on the road. Some other teams may appear to be rolling, but the reality is they may be playing a lot of home games. Right now we’re 0-1 in the league on the road, and we have yet to play at seven of our league opponents at their place. You can’t really measure your team against others until you’ve gone on the road and competed against other teams in their gyms. In the next few weeks, we’ll find out what kind of team we have and what we have to do to get better.”

Fans can follow the Sharks via live video HERE and live stats HERE. Fans can also keep track of the game through the NSU Athletics Twitter Feed at www.twitter.com/NSUSharks.