Box Score BOX SCORE
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team(7-3, 1-1 SSC) earned its first Sunshine State Conference win of the season Saturday on the road, as the Sharks took down the Eckerd Tritons (6-3, 0-2 SSC), 79-74.
Iran Hollis (Hollywood, Fla.) led the Sharks with 21 points on the night, 15 of which came in the first half. Hollis shot 7-for-10 from the floor and drained two 3-pointers. He also brought down five boards.
Brian Cahill (So., Arlington, Va.) had a game-high seven boards, four on offense, and tied a career-high of 19 points.
Justin Jeangerard (So., Weaverville, Calif.) tallied a team-best five assists with nine points.
“This is a win that makes me ecstatic,” said head coach
Gary Tuell. “Even when things got sloppy, their resolve was never in question. These kids are really overachieving like you can’t imagine, I’m so proud of them.”
The first half was a roller coaster ride for both teams, with NSU beginning the game on a 12-2 run. They controlled the first nine minutes and led by as much as 14 points at 23-9. With everything going NSU’s way, all the momentum swung towards the home team, which followed up with a 21-2 run to take the lead.
Just as it seemed the wheels had fallen off for the Sharks, Hollis drove to the basket and made an and-one layup to stop the bleeding with just over two minutes left. The basket started another 12-2 run that put the Sharks ahead at the break, 37-32.
The second half started off as a much more stable period, as the Sharks led the whole way through. NSU floated around a high single-digit lead for the majority of the half until a
Sean Mullan (Sr., Mangerton, Australia) 3-pointer gave the Sharks a 61-51 lead with 6:43 remaining.
The Sharks looked as if they would cruise to victory, leading, 74-63, with 1:52 left. Eckerd nearly climbed back in the game, as NSU struggled to make its free throws down the stretch. Eckerd worked the deficit down to three points with 1:07 left. However, Jeangerard drained two free throws to put the game just out of reach of the home team.
Nova Southeastern had one of their best shooting nights of the year, shooting 53 percent from the floor (24-for-45) and 50 percent from 3-point range (11-for-22). The Sharks were four treys away from the school’s all-time record.
Mullan scored nine points in the game, all of which came in the second half.
Lukas Roesch (Sr., Sugar Grove, Ohio) and
Maurice Fuller (So., Westfield, Ind.) each tallied seven points on a combined 6-for-10 shooting.
The win was the first at the McArthur Center since Feb. 11, 2006 and the second road win over Eckerd in conference ever for NSU.
“We are trying our best to build a winner here and I think these kids are committed to it,” said Tuell. “Now they can say they know how to go on the road and get a big win. We’ve done it.”
The Sharks will stay on the road to face Palm Beach Atlantic on Wednesday, Jan. 9 in West Palm Beach, Fla. at 7 p.m.
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