BOX SCORE

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (9-7, 4-3 SSC) rode a late game run to take down the Saint Leo Lions (8-9, 2-5 SSC), 67-53, Saturday at the NSU Arena in the Don Taft University Center.

Reigning SSC Player of the Week Iran Hollis (Jr., Hollywood, Fla.) scored a career-high 23 points on 10-for-12 shooting from the field. He also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds and blocked two shots for the fourth time in his career. Hollis is now averaging 10.4 points per game and a team-best 5.7 rebounds per game.

Tim Traversa  (Jr., Chicago, Ill.) came off the bench and scored 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting and tied Louie Schonauer (Jr., Lincoln, Ill.) and Shaun Pratl (Jr., Chicago Ridge, Ill.) for the team-lead with three assists. The win was a team effort as the Sharks shot 59.1 percent (26-for-44) from the floor and held Saint Leo to 36.7 percent (18-for-49) in the contest. The Sharks shot-13-for-22 in both halves.

The Sharks controlled the action in the first half as they only trailed Saint Leo by two points within the first two minutes. Hollis jump started the team’s offense, scoring 11 of NSU’s first 13 points without missing a shot. The Sharks would have their largest lead of the half at 22-13 with 9:29 left before the break. They would cruise into halftime leading, 34-26. Traversa had eight of his 11 points in the first half.

The momentum began to shift at the start of the second half as the Sharks got into the habit of turning the ball over. The Lions would tie the game within eight minutes after the break at 44-44 and take their largest lead with 9:47 remaining at 47-44.

With the game slipping away, NSU changed up its defense and shut down the visiting squad. Over the final nine minutes, the Sharks would outscore their opponent, 23-6. The Lions would turn the ball over six times during that stretch.

Teddy Tassy (Sr., Port-au-Prince, Haiti) was limited in practice all week but came off the bench to score nine points on 4-for-6 shooting. Robert Huntington (Sr., Perth Australia) scored seven points on 2-for-3 shooting. Lukas Roesch (Jr., Sugar Grove, Ohio) also played well off the pine with six points, four rebounds and two steals.

The Sharks will play four of their next five games on the road, beginning with Rollins this Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The game in Winter Park, Fla. will be broadcasted live on 640 Sports.

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