BOX SCORE

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (3-4, 1-1 SSC) dropped its first Sunshine State Conference game of the season as they lost to the Eckerd Tritons (3-3, 1-1 SSC), 68-58, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Saturday.

Jacob Reed (So., Perth, Australia) had his first break out game of the season and paired with Justin Jeangerard (Fr., Weaverville, Calif.) for the team-lead with 10 points. The Sharks had a balanced offensive attack as five players scored eight points or more in a defensive minded game.

Coming out of final exams week, the Sharks surprised the home fans by taking over the first half. Eckerd came out to a 9-2 lead but a barrage of 3-pointers from Reed and Jeangerard silenced the crowd. The Sharks would lead by as much as nine points in the half. NSU gained their lead with solid defense as they did not allow a 3-point bucket in the first 20 minutes. However, the Sharks were not able to build a substantial early lead as they were plagued by nine first-half turnovers. The Sharks would finish the game with 20 turnovers.

Reed scored all 10 of his points in the opening period while Jeangerard and Robert Huntington (Sr., Perth, Australia) each chipped in six. The Sharks spread the ball around as eight different players had a field goal before halftime.

The Sharks looked at their best at the start of the second half and led by 11 points with 17 minutes remaining in the game. The wheels fell off as Eckerd climbed right back into the game after a series of NSU turnovers. The Tritons took their first lead since early in the first half with 11 minutes remaining. From then on, the game was a close struggle as neither team could pull away until there was two minutes left.

The NSU offense fell apart in the final five minutes of the game. Shaun Pratl (Jr., Chicago Ridge, Ill.) made a put back layup with 5:13 left in the game for his team’s final field goal. Jeangerard made a free throw with 45 seconds left for his team’s only point in the last five minutes. Eckerd was able to build a substantial lead as they won by double-digits over the Sharks for the fifth straight time.

Pratl finished the game with a game-high five rebounds along with six points. Huntington had a team-best four assists with eight points as well. Teddy Tassy (Sr., Port-au-Prince, Haiti) finished the game with eight points while Tim Traversa  (Jr., Chicago, Ill.) had nine points on 4-for-7 shooting.

The Sharks will return to the NSU Arena in the Don Taft University Center this Thursday, Dec. 15 to face the College of the Bahamas at 7:30 p.m.

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