BOX SCORE

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (5-6, 1-2 SSC) dropped a back-and-forth barn-burner to the Florida Tech Panthers (9-2, 2-1 SSC), 88-85, Wednesday night at the NSU Arena in the Don Taft University Center.

Lukas Roesch (Jr., Sugar Grove, Ohio) scored 21 points for the second time in three games to lead the contest in points scored on 8-for-10 shooting. Teddy Tassy (Sr., Port-au-Prince, Haiti) followed behind him with 19 points on 6-for-13 shooting.

The first half was an entertaining one as both teams came out red-hot from the floor. Neither team could pull away from the other as the lead changed six times. NSU’s largest lead of the half was six with just 27 seconds left before the break. The Sharks shot 20-for-32 in the first half, tying the season-high for shooting percentage in the first half at 62.5 percent. The halftime score had NSU up, 47-42. Roesch was a perfect 4-for-4 in the period.

The second half was a roller coaster that saw both teams go up by at least nine points. The Sharks pulled away at the start of the half by coming out on a 10-4 run in the first three minutes. The run created the Sharks’ largest lead of the game at 57-46.

The wheels came off after that as the Panthers’ full court defense threw off the Sharks. The Panthers would outscore the home team 36-16 over the next 13 minutes and seemed to be running away with the game. The Sharks would put the pieces back together down the stretch as the night would be decided by one possession. Tassy would hit two three-pointers along with a driving layup by Jacob Reed (So., Perth, Australia) to bring the deficit down to two points.

Florida Tech’s Simon Cummings would put the Panthers on his back down the stretch as he scored his team’s final five points on a field goal and three free throws. Down by three points with six seconds left and no timeouts, Louie Schonauer (Jr., Lincoln, Ill.) took the final shot and was nearly fouled but it did not convert.

Justin Jeangerard (Fr., Weaverville, Calif.) had a game-high six rebounds to go with six points and two steals. Tim Traversa (Jr., Chicago, Ill.) recorded a game-best seven assists, eight points and two blocks. Robert Huntington (Sr., Perth, Australia) had nine points on 4-for-6 shooting. Sean Mullan (Jr., Mangerton, Australia) shot a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, good for seven points.

The Sharks will return to the NSU Arena this Saturday, Jan. 7 at 4 p.m. to face Florida Southern. The game will be broadcasted live on 640 Sports.

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