Box Score

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team travelled to St. Louis Mo. to face the Division I St. Louis Billikens Saturday night but were defeated, 78-62.

Senior forward Alex Gynes (Nowra, Australia) led the Sharks with a game-high 18 points on 8-for-15 shooting from the field. John Brooks (Sr., Riverside, Calif.) also played a solid game and led the Sharks with eight rebounds along with 10 points. SLU was led by point guards Jordair Jett and Mike McCall, who each scored 12 points.

The Sharks took the fight to the home team and took an early lead. In the first five minutes of the game, the Sharks shot 3-for-4 from the field and caused two Billiken turnovers. With five minutes off the clock SLU coach Rick Majerus called a timeout as the Sharks led, 9-4. The Billikens went on a 9-1 run to take a lead they would never give up.

The Billikens led by as much as 11 points in the opening half but the Sharks never let the lead get out of hand. They trailed 39-31 at halftime. The Sharks shot 41% from the field in the opening half and went 8-for-9 from the charity stripe. It would have been a much closer half if not for the nine costly turnovers the Sharks committed over the first 20 minutes. The Billikens fired 16 three-pointers in the first half but were most efficient from inside the paint, shooting 9-for-17 from inside the arc.

The second half was very similar to the first as the Sharks came out and outscored the Billikens over the first eight minutes of the period. The Sharks never led in the second half, but they did cut the deficit to one possession with 13:53 remaining. The Billikens held serve and eventually rebuilt their lead back to eight points. The Sharks stayed in the game until the five minute mark when the Billikens ran the lead up to 15 points. The Sharks never cut the deficit to single digits as they were handed an exhibition loss.

Just like the first half, the Sharks were outscored 39-31 over the final 20 minutes. NSU shot much better over the second half, making 14 of their 27 shots. The Billikens were equally as efficient as they shot over 50% from the field as well. Like the first half, the Sharks turned the ball over nine times. Robert Huntington (Sr., Perth Australia), who shot 0-for-5 in the first period, led all scorers in the second half with eight points on 80% shooting. He finished with 11 points and his team’s only block.

Lemar Dyer (Sr., Miami, Fla.) led the Sharks in assists with five, half of his team’s assist count. Teddy Tassy (Jr., Boca Raton, Fla.) also put forth a solid effort with seven points and seven rebounds.

The Sharks return home for their final exhibition game of the preseason this Wednesday, Nov. 10 against Miami AAU at 7:30.