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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (11-8, 4-5 SSC) is looking to stop their three-game losing streak as they travel to Saint Leo, Fla. this Saturday, Feb. 5 to play the Saint Leo Lions (10-10, 1-9 SSC) at 4 p.m.

The Sharks enter the game after dropping three straight games against the top three teams in the Sunshine State Conference. All three games went down to the wire as the Sharks proved they could compete with some of the most talented teams in the country but could not pull out a win. This past Wednesday the Sharks had a day off and will enter Saturday’s game with a full week’s worth of rest.

“After the three tough games last week, we’ve enjoyed the bye on Wednesday and now look forward to getting back to the court at Saint Leo Saturday,” said head coach Gary Tuell. “The bye date could not have come at a better place in our schedule. We needed a few days off to get a better perspective not only on the three games we lost, but also to get a good look at where we stand in the conference race.

“Three wins last week would have put us in first place. And when you lose in overtime to Tampa (86-78), by one point to Rollins (62-61) and four points on the road to Florida Southern (85-81), you need to keep everything in perspective. We’re so very close to being where we want to be. But then again, so are a lot of teams in this league. Rollins has separated themselves nicely from the pack, but there is a virtual log jam from second to eighth place and anything can happen in the next three weeks.”

The Sharks will get a change of pace as they’ll be on the road facing the SSC’s last place squad. The Lions have lost nine out of 10 conference games with their lone win coming at home against eighth place Lynn (80-65). The Fighting Knights made up for that loss by defeating the Lions by 19 points on their floor (90-71). However, coach Tuell believes this will still be a tough matchup as no team is soft in the SSC.

“Besides Rollins, the hottest teams in the league right now might be Barry and Florida Tech, with Lynn coming on strong as well,” said Tuell. “Saint Leo certainly has the talent to get themselves in the mix. We know that. We’re going there expecting a typical difficult challenge. Saint Leo has always been one of the toughest places for us to play. They play much better at home than on the road and at this point in the season they can relax and let it all hang out because they’re in a position where they have nothing to lose. They have a budding star in Kendrick at center and Quentin Cullop gives them one of the best point guards in our league. On top of that, they have good athletes at every position.”

The Sharks defeated the Lions at home on Jan. 8, 77-61. Teddy Tassy (Jr., Boca Raton, Fla.) tied a career-high 18 points on 5-for-7 shooting from beyond the arc. He also collected two offensive rebounds and knocked down three free throws. Alex Gynes (Sr., Nowra, Australia) had an average day by his standards, scoring 17 points and corralling a game-high nine rebounds. He also had a career-high five steals. The Sharks held Saint Leo to 22 percent (6-for-27) shooting from beyond the arc.

Another win against Saint Leo would be a historic one, as it would bring the Sharks to an even 16-16 record against the Lions all-time. As the youngest school and latest to join the conference, the NSU men’s basketball team has a losing all-time record against all SSC opponents.

More importantly, a win against Saint Leo would put the Sharks back to .500 in the conference going into games against Florida Tech and Eckerd who rank fifth and fourth in the conference, respectively.

“The difference between first and last in this league is so miniscule,” Tuell said. “We’re in sixth place but we just lost three games to teams that were tied for first a week ago and we were beaten in overtime, by one point and four points on the road. That’s about as close as a team can get without walking away with anything to show for it. But that’s the Sunshine State Conference. From top to bottom, there isn’t a more competitive and balanced league in Division II basketball than our league. We’ll keep working toward our goal of being the best team in the league by season’s end.”

SSC Standings: The Rollins Tars have solidified themselves as the premier SSC team with a 9-1 conference record. Florida Southern trails Rollins by 2.5 games in second place with a 6-3 record. After losing three straight games, Tampa is tied with Eckerd in third place with a 6-4 record. After sitting close to the bottom of the conference, Florida Tech has rattled off three straight wins and climbed into 5th place with a 5-5 record.

NSU has fallen to sixth with a 4-5 record and lead Barry (4-6) by half of a game. Lynn sits in eighth place with a 3-7 record while Saint Leo takes last place with a 1-9 record. The top eight teams in the conference get a bid to the SSC tournament in March.

2010-11 SSC Men's Basketball Standings Conference Pct. Overall Pct. 1. Rollins 9-1 .900 17-4 .810 2. Florida Southern 6-3 .667 15-6 .714 3. Tampa 6-4 .600 17-4 .737 4. Eckerd 6-4 .600 15-5 .778 6. Florida Tech 5-5 .500 15-9 .625 6. NSU 4-5 .444 11-8 .579 7. Barry 4-6 .400 7-12 .368 8. Lynn 3-7 .300 5-15 .250 9. Saint Leo 1-9 .100 10-10 .500

Fans can follow the Sharks via live video HERE and live stats HERE. Fans can also keep track of the game through the NSU Athletics Twitter Feed at www.twitter.com/NSUSharks.