Box Score

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University men's basketball team (5-7, 1-3 SSC) nearly pulled off an upset Saturday at home against the No. 7 Florida Southern Mocs (13-1, 2-1 SSC) but lost, 77-74.
 
"We played to win, I think that was obvious," said head coach Gary Tuell. "Our kids competed about as hard as they could and made a heck of an effort. I couldn't be more proud of how they played. I'm sorry for our guys for not getting the victory because I think they did enough good things to deserve it."
 
The Sharks played without three scholarship players but still hung in with the Sunshine State Conference favorites, leading the game for almost 18 minutes. Chris Page (Jr., Plainfield, Ind.) went toe-to-toe with reigning SSC Player of the Year Kevin Capers and scored 27 points on 9-for-15 shooting. He also recorded team-highs with seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Maurice Fuller (Sr., Westfield, Ind.) had his most productive game of the season with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, all season-highs. Capers led the Mocs with a game-high 29 points, along with a pair of rebounds and an assist.
 
"When you are playing three people down like we are it is awfully tough," said Tuell. "We are not just playing three people down, we're playing three really good players down. We'd be a lot better team if we had those guys. The fun part is we get to take the team we have now and find different ways to be effective. So we are in the process of rebuilding this team on the fly. The kids have been great, are defense is so much better than it was a month ago. I don't know if we have depth and the fire power to hang with the top teams in the league but we are certainly good enough to beat anybody if we play hard like we did tonight."
 
The Sharks, who started slow in the previous two games, jumped out to an early advantage and led for much of the first half. NSU took a 9-3 advantage in the first four minutes, with five points coming from Fuller. The Sharks would take their biggest lead of the game at 20-13 with 8:37 left in the first, but the Mocs answered with 10-3 run to tie the game. Neither team led the remainder of the first half by more than a possession. NSU and FSC entered halftime at a 38-all tie.
 
The two squads continued to go shot-for-shot over the next 10 minutes, but another 10-3 FSC run halfway through the second gave the Mocs a nine-point advantage, their largest of the game. With the game on the line, Fuller converted on two-straight driving layups, before Seniors Stian Berg (Baerum, Norway) and Justin Jeangerard (Weaverville, Calif.) each scored to tie the game at 65 with 4:43 remaining.
 
A Harrison Goodrick (So., Sydney, Australia) bucket and another Berg free throw put NSU up three points. However, Capers scored and converted a free throw to tie the game. NSU would score on the next two possessions, but FSC's Tyler Kelly hit back-to-back 3's to put his team ahead, 74-72, with 1:59 remaining. Capers answered NSU's next score with a layup, and with 21 seconds left, earned a crucial steal on the defensive end to put NSU's chances in dire straits. The Sharks would get a chance to tie the game on a 3-pointer with nine seconds left, but could not convert.
 
NSU had an excellent shooting night, with a mark of 51.1 percent (24-for-47) from the floor while draining nine 3-pointers. FSC shot 47.3 percent (26-for-55) from the floor. However, the Mocs recorded eight offensive rebounds to NSU's four, while winning the turnover battle, 16-18.
 
"I'm happy with everybody, I thought all of our guys really competed and played as hard as they could," stated Tuell. "Stian had to play 40 minutes, and handle pressure for 40 minutes, and did a terrific job being a point guard and a leader tonight. Mo (Fuller) stepped up when we were nine down and took the game over, really. I'm so proud of how tough he played all night long. Justin played his butt off in there against bigger, stronger guys. He had to play the center position for us tonight and did a great job. Harrison continues to be a warrior for us, we are a pretty good team when he is on the floor. Chris Page continues to get better, he defended better and made better decisions with the ball. He was productive scoring when we needed him. He's getting better in a lot of areas and that's what we need. Troy Spears (Fr., Martinsville, Ind.) came off the bench and did a terrific job. I thought this was one of Troy's best games. He played well, as did Miguel Chalas (Jr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.). All the guys who came off the bench, Ryan Steed (Jr., Miami, Fla.), Remi Farrell (So., Woodbridge, Conn.), Brandon Patchan (So., Tampa, Fla.)… they all did a great job.
 
"I thought we played hard tonight, I thought we took advantage of some mismatches that we had that caused problems for them. Our execution was very good, our kids recognized the mismatches and took advantage. It was a great ball game, give Southern's kids credit. They played hard and made the plays they had to. We look forward to competing with them again."
 
NSU will return to road play for the next three games, beginning Wednesday against Rollins at 7:30 p.m.