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LAKELAND, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (9-10, 4-6 SSC) will hit the road for its next Sunshine State Conference matchup as the Sharks face the Florida Southern Mocs (12-7, 5-5 SSC) Saturday in Lakeland, Fla. at 7:30 p.m. The game will broadcast live on 640 Sports.
The Sharks enter Saturday’s rematch with the Mocs after taking their third straight loss at the hands of Eckerd, 68-62, who has now swept NSU for the second straight season. The Sharks struggled to find a rhythm in the game as they sent the Tritons to the foul line 48 times and committed 23 turnovers. However, the game was closely fought throughout as the Tritons led for most of the second half but never by more than eight points.
“We can take a lot of positives from our game Wednesday with an outstanding Eckerd College team,” said head coach
Gary Tuell. “We won the battle on the boards by a pretty significant margin, our big guys really competed their rear ends off. I thought
Shaun Pratl (Jr., Chicago Ridge, Ill.) had his best game and he got help inside from
Robert Huntington (Sr., Perth, Australia),
Lukas Roesch (Jr., Sugar Grove, Ohio) and
Iran Hollis (Jr., Hollywood, Fla.). They all fought hard.
“
Louie Schonauer (Jr., Lincoln, Ill.) and
Tim Traversa (Jr., Chicago, Ill.) both did some good things and we continue to be a much-improved defensive team, holding Eckerd to only seven field goals in the second half of a game that was physical from start to finish. I think both teams were drained when it was over. We gave them way too many points at the foul line and way too many points off careless turnovers. We beat ourselves as much as anything, and hopefully that’s something we can fix.”
The Sharks now stand three games out of the three-way tie for first place between Eckerd, Rollins and Florida Tech. Although a conference regular-season championship is still mathematically in reach, the main focus has turned to getting ready for the SSC tournament and earning the highest seed possible in hopes of playing a home game in the first round. Six conference opponents remain on the schedule, all of which the Sharks have either beaten or been competitive with in the first matchup.
“I said before the Eckerd game that we’d learn a lot about ourselves,” stated Tuell. “Eckerd tests you for 40 minutes at both ends of the floor. Overall, I was pleased with the way we handled ourselves. We’ve played two teams in the past week that are tied for first in the league and we were very competitive, if not efficient, with both of those teams. We’re close. We’re not there yet, but we’re close. Most importantly, our guys know how close they are. There is no quit in this team and they do seem to have a resolve that allows us to keep working hard to get better. We have nothing but tough games in front of us. This is by far the toughest our league has been, from top to bottom, in my eight years here. You can’t afford to take a night off against anybody because you’ll get your feelings hurt in a hurry if you do.”
The Sharks can reach an impressive feat Saturday, as a win will complete the program’s second season-sweep of the Mocs. Prior to NSU’s 90-79 win over Florida Southern earlier this season, the Sharks had lost ten straight games against the Mocs. The last time the Sharks won at Florida Southern was on Jan. 31, 2007 when NSU won, 73-68.
“Florida Southern is another great road test for us, and certainly a chance to see if we can cut down on our turnovers,” said Tuell. “They will pressure us the full 94 feet and do their best to speed us up and force turnovers. On top of that, they are a much more efficient team at home so this will be a great opportunity for our guys to work on our weaknesses and get better in a hostile environment. They will test our defense with the way they run and with their ability to drive. If we can contain the drive without fouling and eliminate some of the turnovers, we’ll have a chance. When we beat them at our place it was feast or famine. We either broke their pressure and scored or we turned it over and they scored. We’re still very excited about our team and looking forward, game by game, for the opportunity to improve and grow.”
Fans can listen to the game live on 640 Sports or watch the game
HERE. Live stats will also be available
HERE. Follow the Sharks on Twitter at
www.Twitter.com/NSU_MBasketball.
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