Box Score FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University men's basketball team (4-3) lost to a NCAA Division II team for the first time this season, falling to the Midwestern State Mustangs (7-3), 75-55, Saturday at the NSU Arena in the Don Taft University Center.
NSU was led by
Maurice Fuller (Sr., Westfield, Ind.), who had a team-best 13 points with two steals. Freshman
Nick Rosa (Coral Springs, Fla.) came off the bench to lead the squad in rebounding with four, while senior
Stian Berg (Baerum, Norway) had a team-best four assists.
"I said before the game, this is the best team we've played in our 11 years here," said head coach
Gary Tuell. "Nothing they did changed my mind. They beat us every way you could beat a team They're outstanding defensively. They're deep and their athletic. They're tough minded and well coached. I thought we were very selfish on offense. But teams that put that kind of pressure on you force you out of your offense and make you have to make individual plays in order to score. A lot of times, teams that play defense the way they do make you play selfishly."
The Sharks opened the first half by going up, 8-2, but the Mustangs would quickly erase NSU's advantage and gain control of the contest. With the Sharks leading, 11-10, Midwestern State went on a 16-4 run. The Sharks stopped the momentum for a bit, but the Mustangs closed out the half on a 16-3 run to take a 21 point lead at the break.
Nothing went NSU's way in the first half, with the Sharks struggling to shoot from all over the floor, including the free throw line. NSU entered the game ranked in the national top-10 in 3-pointers per game, but shot just 2-for-8 in the opening half and 5-for-11 from the free throw line. Midwestern grew a large lead by shooting 7-for-13 from downtown before the break.
The Sharks had a better defensive half in the second, and won the period by a point. However, NSU continued to miss from the floor, keeping the home team from mounting a comeback. The Sharks missed their first five shots of the second half, allowing Midwestern State to build its largest lead at 53-27. Midway through the half, Fuller scored nine straight points for NSU and cut the deficit to 16. While the door was not shut by the Mustang offense, NSU could not hit enough shots to inch any closer.
Overall, NSU had its worst 3-point shooting night since Feb. 15, 2012, finishing at 18.8 percent (3-for-16). NSU shot 17-for-45 overall, while the Mustangs shot 27-for-56.
Despite the team's rough night offensively,
Harrison Goodrick (So., Sydney, Australia) scored an efficient 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting. Goodrick was followed by
Chris Page (Jr., Plainfield, Ind.) with nine points and
Justin Jeangerard (Sr., Weaverville, Calif.) with seven.
The Sharks will return on Thursday to take on another foe from Texas, West Texas A&M, in the NSU Arena at 8 p.m.
