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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (12-9, 5-6 SSC) will look to even the season series when the Eckerd Tritons (16-6, 7-5 SSC) come to the NSU Arena in the Don Taft University Center on Saturday, Feb. 12 at 4 p.m.

The Sharks enter the game after falling on the road against Florida Tech in a familiar fashion. The Sharks held a one point lead with three minutes remaining but were outscored 12-2 down the stretch. NSU shot 1-for-5 in the last three minutes as the Panthers climbed ahead of the Sharks in the Sunshine State Conference standings.

“Right now we have to find a solution for closing games,” said head coach Gary Tuell. “We’ve lost nine times this year, and in seven or eight of those games we’ve been tied or in the lead inside the final 10 minutes. That was the case Wednesday at Florida Tech when we took the lead with a few minutes to play but couldn’t hold on. We’re right there, but we’re not finishing the way we’d like. This team is so close to having a special season. But the good news is that there are still five games to play and the conference tournament. We’ll continue working to find the answer and hopefully make the plays at both ends of the floor if we’re in a position to win again.”

With only three SSC teams ranked in the NCAA South Region top-10, the Sharks’ best chance of making the NCAA Tournament with five regular season games left is to win the SSC Tournament. NSU has proven they can hang with the best of the conference as they have taken Rollins, Tampa, and Florida Southern down to the wire. However, they have not found a way to win as they are 1-5 against the SSC’s five best teams.

“Eckerd is probably the only team we’ve played that thoroughly beat us,” said Tuell. “We’ve gone against many of the top teams in our region and competed well, but in our loss at Eckerd earlier this year we were very disappointing in the second half, especially at the defensive end.

“Still, we played a terrific first half up at their place and felt good about where we were at the time. In the second half, we were the Incredible Shrinking Men when they turned up the heat. As a boxing fan, I can only refer back to Roberto Duran’s (first) loss to Sugar Ray Leonard when Duran said ‘No mas.’ I thought Eckerd carried the fight to us in the second half and we had a lot of guys who said ‘No mas.’

Legend has it that Duran did not handle the fruits of his winning streak well and entered his second fight against Leonard mentally and physically out of shape. Tuell’s comparison fits as the Sharks rode their own win streak into their game against Eckerd. The Sharks had won seven straight games before losing to the Tritons, one win away from the program’s longest winning streak. Like Leonard, Eckerd played a physical style that the Sharks did not handle well in the second half.

“It’s a hard matchup for our guys because Eckerd has so much size and depth inside and so many wonderful athletes,” said Tuell. “They can do things to us defensively that present problems both on the perimeter and in the paint.

“If we hope to go toe-to-toe with them Saturday we’ll have to be ready mentally for a full, 40-minute fight. Eckerd will test your will with their style of play, and I’m looking forward to the challenge. Hopefully, our players are looking forward to this one, too.”

SSC Standings: The Rollins Tars continue to hold their spot atop the SSC standings with an 11-1 record. Florida Southern sits 2.5 games back at 8-3. Tampa has gone 1-4 over the last five games and is now tied with Eckerd at 7-5. Florida Tech’s win over the Sharks solidified its fifth place ranking with a 6-5 record while NSU fell to 5-6. Behind the Sharks are Barry (4-8) and Lynn (3-8). Saint Leo sits in last place and is 2.5 games out of the conference tournament with a 1-11 record.

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