SAINT LEO, Fla. (Jan. 30, 2010) - Nova Southeastern University men's basketball team was unable to hold off a late Saint Leo surge and fell 92-81 on Saturday evening at the Bowman Center.

"We got outplayed; Saint Leo's kids played really hard and they deserved to win," said head coach Gary Tuell.

NSU led throughout much of the first half. After trailing 5-4 at 17:21, the Sharks outscored Saint Leo 10-2 over the next four minutes in order to go up 14-7 at 13:39. Brian Cahill (Fr., Arlington, Va.) scored eight of those 10 points, including a pair of foul shots to give NSU the seven-point advantage.

Saint Leo cut away at the Sharks' lead and eventually went up 23-22 with a three-point play by Dominick Robinson at 8:51. However, NSU built up several nine-point advantages, including a 38-29 edge on a pair of Alex Gynes (Jr., Nowra, Australia) free throws. The Lions chipped away at NSU's lead and a three-pointer from Josue Vazquez with two seconds left made it 40-39 in favor of NSU going into halftime.

Both teams battled for control throughout the first 15 minutes of the second half. The score was tied nine times during the half and 11 lead changes. NSU's largest lead of the half came as Luke Roesch (Fr., Sugar Grove, Ohio) sank a free throw at 12:35 to make it 57-52.

After Saint Leo came back and tied the game at 57-57 at 10:43, NSU and the Lions remained within just a couple points of each other for the next five minutes. Saint Leo ultimately began to pull away as the Lions had a 10-run to go up 81-72 with 2:09 remaining. The Sharks pulled to within six on a Gynes layup at 1:45 that made it 82-76, but that was as close as NSU could get for the rest of the game.

NSU was 27-for-68 from the floor and shot 39.7 percent. Saint Leo shot 45.5 percent (30-for-66). Both teams recorded 44 rebounds.

Gynes led the Sharks with 20 points and seven rebounds. John Brooks (Jr., Parris, Calif.), Cahill and Roesch each had 11 points. Rob Huntington (So., Perth, Australia) also grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.

Vazquez tallied a game-high 25 points. Matt Kendrick recorded a game-high 10 rebounds.

NSU returns to action on Wednesday when the Sharks host Tampa at NSU Arena at the Don Taft University Center. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. The game will also be broadcast live on 88.5 FM, Nova Southeastern University's Radio X.