BOX SCORE

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – the Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (3-3, 1-0 SSC) started Sunshine State Conference play off on a strong note as Tim Traversa  (Jr., Chicago, Ill.) hit a game-winner against the Barry Buccaneers (3-4, 0-1 SSC) to win, 65-64, Saturday at the NSU Arena in the Don Taft University Center.

Traversa scored his biggest basket as a Shark after NSU received the ball, down by one point, with 14 seconds remaining. After Louie Schonauer (Jr., Lincoln, Ill.) brought the ball up the court, he worked it around to Traversa at the top of the key. Traversa, who scored his team’s previous two buckets, put his head down and drove straight to the rim as he converted on a layup with five seconds remaining. Without a timeout, the Bucs could not get a shot off before the buzzer.

Traversa scored nine of his 11 points in the second half as he also collected a team-best three assists and three rebounds. The Sharks’ leading scorer was Robert Huntington (Sr., Perth, Australia) with 16 points on 4-for-8 shooting. Huntington was a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line on the night. In his second game as a Shark, Shaun Pratl (Jr., Chicago Ridge, Ill.) collected a team-high seven rebounds along with 14 points.

The game was broadcasted live on 640 Sports, the new home of NSU athletics. It was the first of 20 games that is scheduled to be featured on 640 Sports this season.

The Sharks started their first conference game on a solid note as they came out to an 11-6 mark before the first official timeout. NSU controlled the opening stanza and led by as much as 12 points. The Sharks would enter the break with a nine point lead, 39-28.

Huntington scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half while Teddy Tassy (Sr., Port-au-Prince, Haiti) scored 11 of his 13 points. The Sharks controlled the paint early on as they scored 20 points down low and out-rebounded the Bucs, 19-11, in the first half.

The Bucs climbed right back into the contest as they started the second half on a 10-4 run. The visiting team continued to chip away at NSU’s lead and erased it as the Bucs went up 46-45 with 11 minutes left. From then on it was a back-and-forth battle as the lead would exchange hands eight times over the final 20 minutes.

With 47 seconds remaining, the Bucs’ Chad Renfro made two free throws to put his team ahead, 62-61. On the other end, Traversa drove to the basket and put up a wild layup that went off the glass and through the rim. After a missed jumper, Barry’s Jermaine Edwards collected the offensive board and completed the put-back layup. Traversa reentered the game after a 30 second timeout and scored the game-winning basket.

In the end, the Sharks finished with 13 turnovers, a positive sign for a team that has been plagued by them all season. The Sharks shot 41 percent in the contest (22-for-54) despite shooting 3-for-15 from behind the arc.

The Sharks will take a week off before traveling to Eckerd this Saturday, Dec. 10 at 4 p.m. The game will broadcasted live on 640 Sports.

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