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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (10-12) will play its final non-conference game Wednesday at the NSU Arena in the Don Taft University Center, as the Sharks take on the Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish (4-19) at 7:30 p.m. The game will broadcast live on 640 Sports.
The Sharks are coming off their first win in the month of February at home against Tampa, 61-44, on Saturday. The Sharks earned the win in front of their biggest crowd of the season, 807, despite a dismally slow-paced first half. NSU shot 55 percent in the period, but only took 20 field goal attempts. The Sharks were stunted in the half due to a slow paced game, 10 turnovers and a rebounding margin of -3.
“We’re coming off a game against Tampa that was not our best effort,” said head coach
Gary Tuell. “I thought our players took Tampa a little lightly, but the 25-25 halftime score seemed to get their attention and we played much better in the final 20 minutes, thanks in large part to
Shaun Pratl (Jr., Chicago Ridge, Ill.),
Sean Mullan (Jr., Mangerton, Australia),
Louie Schonauer (Jr., Lincoln, Ill.) and
Robert Huntington (Sr., Perth, Australia).
“Some other guys were definitely ‘missing in action’ but we did enough to get the win. Give credit to Tampa. They’ve been playing much better lately, had won two of their last three coming to our place and they needed to knock us off to give themselves a better chance at making the league’s post-season tournament. So they came in here with a purpose and a focus that we didn’t match until the second half.”
The second half seemed like a different game as the Sharks played hard on both sides of the court, outscoring the Spartans, 36-19. Huntington scored 13 points in the period, while
Tim Traversa (Jr., Chicago, Ill.) affected the game despite only shooting once. Traversa recorded four assists and dazzled the crowd with highlight passes.
“I was proud of our guys for the way they responded after halftime,” stated Tuell. “Hopefully that will carry over against a PBA team that is playing extremely well right now. We’ll have to play well to win, but more importantly to us, we want to improve every day we take the court and keep our focus on being the best we can be at year’s end.”
The Sharks move on to a PBA team they dismantled back on Jan. 11 on the road, 78-50. It was another chapter in a lopsided all-time series. The Sharks are 31-13 all-time against the Sailfish and have more wins against PBA than any other opponent in program history. In their first matchup this season, the Sharks shot over 60 percent in the first half and led by over 20 points by the break. Despite PBA losing 11 of its last 12 games, Tuell is convinced this team is not the same one the Sharks face in January.
“We’re looking forward to Wednesday night’s game with Palm Beach Atlantic, not so much because of the opponent but more because it will be nice playing at home for two consecutive games,” said Tuell. “PBA is a much-improved team over the first time we met. I think we caught them at a time when they were struggling with their confidence and a little down, which most teams go through. But when you look what they’ve done lately, they’ve been very, very impressive.
“We’ve done our best to impress upon our guys that this is not the team they beat earlier in the year at PBA. This is a much more efficient, disciplined team that is playing about as well as most any team in our league right now. The fact that it’s a non-conference game can be a problem because immature guys generally don’t approach those games with the same focus. Hopefully, our team is mature enough to maintain its focus and to continue working to improve and build on what we’re trying to do.”
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.
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