Box Score

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Despite cutting a 20 point deficit in half late in the second half, the seventh seeded Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (12-15) was eliminated from the 2011 Sunshine State Conference Tournament by losing on the road to the second seeded Florida Southern Mocs (22-7), 79-69.

Alex Gynes (Sr., Nowra, Australia) finished his career by posting team-highs with 15 points, eight rebounds, two steals, and three assists. He only shot 3-for-6 from the line but earned nine points on the free throw line. Robert Huntington (Jr., Perth, Australia) scored 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting along with six boards.

As head coach Gary Tuell predicted, this game did not start out as fast as Saturday’s regular season finale. Both teams came out to a slow start as the Sharks trailed 7-6 over the first five minutes. FSC took control of the first half as they started to heat up from the field while the Sharks continued to struggle offensively. The Sharks shot 9-for-28 from the floor and 1-for-8 from three-point range in the period.

Although the Sharks trailed by double-digits for spurts, they stayed in the game by drawing fouls and finishing at the free throw line. The Sharks went 14-for-15 from the foul line, scoring almost half of their first period points. The Sharks trailed, 38-33, at the break.

Gynes did not record a field goal in the first half but helped keep his team in the game by going 8-for-8 from the foul line. Teddy Tassy (Jr., Port au Prince, Haiti) carried his team over the final five minutes of the half by scoring seven of the team’s nine points. Tassy finished the night with 11 points and four rebounds.

Florida Southern caught fire at the start of the second half as six of their first eight second half field goals were treys, pushing their lead to 60-43 with 10:23 to go. It took the Sharks almost 10 minutes to score their first 10 points of the period but eventually started to hit their shots. Trailing by as much as 20, the Sharks cut the deficit to 10 with four minutes remaining.

The Mocs, who have lost only four times at home in the last three seasons, weathered the storm with solid defense as they limited NSU to two field goals over the final four minutes. The Sharks fought hard until the end but did not have enough time to stage a 20-point comeback.

Although NSU shot over 50 percent from the floor in the second half, they finished the game shooting 21 percent (3-for-14) from three-point range and tying the season-low for three-pointers made in a game.

Jacob Reed (Fr., Perth, Australia) had a career-best night offensively by scoring nine points on 4-for-5 shooting while Lemar Dyer (Sr., Miami, Fla.) scored eight points on 3-for-5 shooting.

John Brooks (Sr., Perris, Calif.) and Cody Dennison (So., Newark, Ohio) both tied a team-high three assists. Brooks also added six points and ended the year six three-pointers short of the single season record with 84. Max Papendieck (Sr., Adelaide, Australia) scored two points and grabbed three boards in his final collegiate game.