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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (3-4, 0-1 SSC) will look to beat the Flagler Saints (6-0, 1-0 PBC) for the second time in two seasons on the road Tuesday, Dec. 14th at 7:30 p.m.

The Sharks head into the game on a three-game losing streak that has put them under .500 for the first time this season. The streak started against Flagler back on Nov. 29th and extended through tough road games against No. 6 Alabama-Huntsville and Valdosta St. Despite the streak, the Sharks were in close games against all three opponents and even took Valdosta St. to double overtime. Head Coach Gary Tuell understands how tough it will be to snap the losing streak on Tuesday.

“We’re coming off a week of limited practice time due to final exams and we’re playing in a difficult environment because Flagler’s little gym is one of the toughest places in Florida to play,” said Tuell. “We’re also running into a team that is confident and playing well. Heck, they beat us once at our place so they have every reason to believe they can do it again on their court. We’ll need to defend them much better than we did last time we met, and we’ll need to do a much, much better job on the boards than we did last time when they got 18 offensive rebounds.

“Their point guard, D.J. Ferguson, did anything he wanted in the second half and their best shooter, John Pietkiewicz, got 19 shots, including 15 three-point attempts. If they can offensive rebound like that again, and if Ferguson and Pietkiewicz can do what they do best, then we’re in for a long night. But they have a lot of good players who are very athletic and it isn’t just those two who concern us. There’s a reason why they’re unbeaten and why they handled us here and why they beat an outstanding USC-Aiken squad. Flagler is well-coached and experienced and playing with a lot of confidence as a team.”

Flagler enters the game on its strongest start since joining the NCAA. The Saints are 6-0 on the season and claim a victory over No. 5 USC-Aiken. They are not nationally ranked but have received eight votes in the NABC National Coaches Poll.

“Flagler is coming off a huge win over USC-Aiken, which was ranked fifth in the nation at the time Flagler beat them,” said Tuell. “USC-Aiken is the favorite to win the Peach Belt Conference and already has a win on the road at Florida Southern, so you know how good they must be. For Flagler to beat them – and to do it convincingly – is a real credit to their kids and their coach, Bo Clark.”

The Sharks, who are 18-24 all-time against the Saints, are heading into the game playing their best basketball of the season despite the losing streak. After changing defensive strategies before the Flagler game, NSU fought tooth and nail against a top-ten team in Alabama-Huntsville and was within a possession of tying the game in the final minutes.

Against Valdosta St., the Sharks were up by four points with less than a minute remaining in the first overtime period before the Blazer’s tied the game on the final possession. Alex Gynes (Sr., Nowra, Australia) had the best game of his career with 30 points and 15 rebounds.

“We’ve improved since the last time we met,” Tuell said. “I was not happy with our effort against Flagler, but I was proud of the way we bounced back and played in the next two games. Despite the two losses we took at the tournament in Valdosta, we felt we played about as well as we could at this stage of the season. The losses came against arguably the two best teams in the Gulf South Conference, Alabama-Huntsville and Valdosta State, and we had a chance to win both those games. They were both well-played games that went down to the wire. We learned a lot about ourselves in those games and we took a giant step forward as a team.

“Now the task is to continue moving forward, continue improving, and let the wins and losses take care of themselves. If we play as well at Flagler as we did in the tournament at Valdosta State, I’ll be pleased regardless of the outcome. We just want to get better day-by-day and game-by-game so that we’re a factor in the Sunshine State Conference come January.”

Fans can follow the Sharks Tuesday night via live video HERE and live stats HERE.