Box Score
COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Nova Southeastern men's basketball team (0-4) continued its difficult early-season schedule, falling to the SIAC favorites, Benedict Tigers (2-0), 61-54, on the road Monday.
Brian Cahill (Jr., Arlington, Va.) scored a team-best 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting Monday. He also hit team-bests with three assists and three steals.
Maurice Fuller (Jr., Westfield, Ind.) collected a season-high six rebounds to go with eight points and two steals.
"After our two centers picked up six fouls in six minutes, the rest of the game was more painful than a prostate exam," said head coach Gary Tuell. "It was obvious that we were going to have to play most of the night withouth those guys, which disrupted just about everything we wanted to do on both ends of the floor. Benedict's kids played hard, they're well coached."
NSU and Benedict traded big blows early, with both teams looking to get out in transition quickly. Over the first 15 minutes, the Sharks kept Benedict in check, leading or holding a tie for nearly 12 minutes of that span. Benedict would go on a late run to take over the opening half, outscoring NSU, 13-3, over the final five minutes to take a 36-28 lead at the break.
The Sharks shot well in the first half, going 10-for-21 from the floor and 3-for-6 from 3-point range. However, they allowed Benedict to shoot 11-or-22 from the floor, including six treys. They also gave the hot-shooting Tigers extra possessions, losing the offensive rebound battle, 5-2, and giving up three more turnovers than the home team.
Stian Berg (Jr., Baerum, Norway) led the Sharks at halftime with six of his ten points on the night. Tuell played a 10-man rotation in the first half, with seven players scoring.
Benedict continued to roll at the start of the second period and held the largest lead of the game at 48-35 with 16:05 left to play. The momentum changed from there, as Benedict only scored three points over the next nine minutes. NSU would cut the deficit down to one point with 6:56, but committed five turnovers during the stretch to keep them behind.
NSU caught a cold of its own over the rest of the game, scoring only four points from there. Benedict stretched its lead back to as much as eight points to secure a home victory.
Chris Page (So., Plainfield, Ind.) was a sparkplug for NSU in the second half, scoring eight of his 10 points in the second half.
NSU put forth a solid effort, winning the overall turnover battle, 15-18, for the first time this season. However, the Sharks had an abnormal shooting performance, hitting season-lows at 36 percent (18-for-50) from the floor and 22 percent (4-for-18) from beyond the arc. Benedict sank seven triples and took 14 more trips to the foul line, making the different in the contest.
NSU will stay on the road for the next outing but return to South Florida to face St. Thomas on Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m.
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