640 SPORTS | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (8-6, 3-2 SSC) will return home to face the Lynn Fighting Knights (9-8, 2-3 SSC) Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the NSU Arena in the Don Taft University Center. The game will be broadcasted live on 640 Sports.

The Sharks are coming off three straight victories, including Saturday’s win against Tampa, 55-52. The Sharks held their opponent to under 55 points for the second straight game. The Sharks held both opponents, Palm Beach Atlantic and Tampa, to under 35 percent shooting from the floor.

For the first time all season, head coach Gary Tuell repeated his starting lineup from the game before. Tuell used a different lineup every night for the first 13 games with each set of starters meant to cause mismatches for his opponents. Regardless of the lineup, Tuell has dug deep into his bench and played with a 10-man rotation since his team returned to full health. Over the last eight games, at least nine players have recorded double-digit minutes.

“I don’t know who will start for us, but then again I rarely think about that until just before game time,” said Tuell. “Starting is for high school. We don’t make a big deal of it because we know at least 10 guys are going to play, and the ones who are productive and defending and paying attention to the scouting report are the ones who usually end up playing starter’s minutes for us.

“Iran Hollis (Jr., Hollywood, Fla.) may have been the only guy who did that in our win at Tampa, but thankfully his effort was enough to get us over the hump. Some other guys played well in spots, particularly Lukas Roesch (Jr., Sugar Grove, Ohio) and Louie Schonauer (Jr., Lincoln, Ill.), and I thought Shaun Pratl (Jr., Chicago Ridge, Ill.) gave us another big effort on the defensive end and on the glass. He’s becoming a very valuable defender for us in the middle and we need that from him.”

The Sharks will move onto Wednesday’s game between two teams at a crossroads. The Sharks are one game out of first place in the Sunshine State Conference after taking down Florida Southern and Tampa. Lynn started the conference season 2-0, but has now lost three straight SSC games to Barry, Rollins and Florida Tech. While the Sharks look to climb up the standings, the Fighting Knights will be looking to end their free fall.

“Lynn is desperate for a win, coming off two straight losses at home, but let’s not forget that they were beaten by the two teams (Rollins and Florida Tech) who are first and second in the league right now, and both of those losses could have gone the other way,” said Tuell. “With a break here or there Lynn could be sitting in first place right now. They are a very well-coached, talented team with a lot of very good guards and one of the premier big men, Michael Vidal, in the conference. We certainly need to play better than we did Saturday if we hope to compete with Lynn.

“Josh Garcia, Brandon Smith and Demario Fountain give them three terrific scorers in the backcourt. Vidal gives them the best rebounder in our league and a solid inside presence. But the thing that Lynn has always done best is play with great energy and apply defensive pressure all over the floor. We need to defend their scorers and be strong with the ball against their pressure.”

The conference standings are still tight with over a month and a half of regular season play left. A win and a Rollins loss to Barry would put the Sharks in a four or five-way tie for first-place in a league that has always been known for its parody. However, a loss would put the Sharks back at .500 and give a cross-town rival momentum moving forward.

Fans can listen to the game live on 640 Sports or watch the game HERE. Live stats will also be available HERE. Follow the Sharks on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/NSU_MBasketball.

For the latest NSU news and results, be sure to visit www.NSUSharks.com. To have results sent directly to your cell phone via text message, sign up for SMS text message delivery by clicking here. For the latest news, be sure to sign up for the Shark Alert E-newsletter by clicking here.