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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (9-9, 4-5 SSC) will look to snap its first losing streak of the season Wednesday when the Sharks host the Eckerd Tritons (13-5, 6-3 SSC) at 7:30 p.m. The game will be broadcasted live on 640 Sports.
The Sharks are coming off a road loss to the Barry Buccaneers, 51-50, this past Saturday in a game that lived up to the tradition of the rivalry. The Sharks led by one point with six seconds remaining in the game. Without a timeout, the Bucs went coast-to-coast and missed a contested layup that was tipped in at the buzzer. It was the fifth straight game between the two teams that was decided on a game-winning bucket.
“Losing at Barry Saturday on a last-second tip-in was no disgrace, especially when you consider that they’re unbeaten at home in conference play and had a much tougher time against us than they did in their other conference wins over Lynn, Florida Tech and Eckerd, all teams have beaten us this year,” said head coach Gary Tuell. “Knowing that our defense was good enough to limit their leading scorer, Evan White, and to hold them to 49 points for 39 minutes and 59 seconds is encouraging and we certainly have to come away from the game feeling good about a lot of things.
“We’re getting better and that’s not always the case with teams at this time of the season. But what makes me most encouraged are two things that happened after the loss at Barry: One, we had several guys in the locker room after the game who were genuinely upset by the loss, and it’s been a long time since I’ve seen that here. And two, we came back from the loss with one of our best practices of the year on Monday, which is a testament to our players’ character and their desire to continue working hard to learn from the loss and improve.”
Despite the loss, Tuell sees positive signs in his team heading into a stretch of games that will feature three of the four top teams in the Sunshine State Conference.
“This has been a fun team to coach, especially for the past six weeks, and I don’t think that’s going to change,” stated Tuell. “We’re so close to being a very good team and I think our guys know that. They haven’t quit on each other and they haven’t quit on the coaches. They’re having fun. They’re working hard to improve. I still believe our best basketball is ahead of us.
Louie Schonauer (Jr., Lincoln, Ill.) is improving,
Iran Hollis (Jr., Hollywood, Fla.) is improving,
Shaun Pratl (Jr., Chicago Ridge, Ill.) is improving,
Justin Jeangerard (Fr., Weaverville, Calif.) is improving,
Jacob Reed (So., Perth, Australia) is improving and most of the other guys are either getting better or at least maintaining a high level of play.”
The Sharks will have to bounce back against a team they have struggled against in recent history. The Sharks have lost five straight games against the Tritons, all of which have come in double digits. That streak includes a loss back on Dec. 10, when NSU went down on the road, 68-58.
“Eckerd is always a difficult challenge for us because of their athleticism, their post play and the great job Coach Tom Ryan does with his team defense,” said Tuell. “They’re very hard to score against because we never get much done against them in the paint, which puts a lot of stress on our guards. In our last game with them, their post guys just pushed our big men completely out of the paint. Our big guys did not compete well inside, and if they go into this game settling for jump shots rather than attacking the glass, then we’re going to have a long night.
“This game comes at an ideal time for us. I’ve always said that Eckerd, because of the talent and the style of play, is the best barometer for where we are and for what we need to do to move up to the next level. When you play Eckerd you have an opportunity to measure yourself against one of the most athletic, talented and well-coached teams in the league. You learn a lot about yourself in a number of areas and we need this game right now to help us prepare for the final month of the season. Win or lose, we’ll come away from the game with a much better idea of how close or how far we are from being the team we want to be in post-season play in March.”
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HERE. Live stats will also be available
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