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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men's basketball team (0-5) will return from their week off to face Belmont Abbey (3-3) in Miami Shores, Fla. at the Barry Thanksgiving Classic Friday at 5 p.m.

NSU will continue its trend of playing elite level teams that play even faster than the run-and-gun Sharks. NSU's last three games have been against teams ranked or receiving votes in either the NCAA or NAIA national poll and have all had a shorter average time of possession than NSU.

"Belmont Abbey went to the NCAA tournament last year and they certainly have the talent to go back to the tourney again this year," said head coach Gary Tuell. "Chris Davis (17.8 point per game), Jonathon Garrett (13.5 ppg) and Darryl Durham (13 ppg) are three very good players who put a lot of pressure on your defense. Garrett and Durham seem to score every time they touch the ball.
 
"They play fast. They're very deep and quick at the guard spots and all of them do a great job of pushing the ball up the floor in a hurry and making plays, especially Davis, who will be one of the best guards we see this year. In some ways they are similar to Florida Southern in our league, which is why we scheduled this game. We're hopeful this game will help us prepare for our game next week against Southern (Dec. 7 at home). At the very least it's another opportunity for our youngsters to go head-to-head with another outstanding team, which can only make us better."
 
NSU will look to get its first win of the season Friday, coming off a heartbreaking road loss in overtime to NAIA's 14th ranked team, St. Thomas. NSU led the majority of the game, but allowed St. Thomas to tie in the last minute of regulation. NSU went on to fall, 91-87. Despite the loss, Brian Cahill (Jr., Arlington, Va.) had a career-high 21 points.
 
"The loss at St. Thomas was disappointing only because our young kids played so well for 32 minutes," stated Tuell. "I thought we showed a lot of improvement and made a lot of progress. The first 30 minutes of that game we were as good as I could hope for and easily played our best basketball of the season. Down the stretch we just couldn't get the stops we needed to win, which has been a consistent theme with our team. We have yet to play a 40-minute game but we're getting closer."
 
The start to the season has not been ideal, but there are still positives to take away. NSU's offense has been firing on all cylinders, scoring 76.2 ppg on 49 percent shooting, three-year highs for the Sharks. With 104.7 points per 100 possessions, the Sharks' offense rates as the second best at NSU since joining the NCAA.
 
"If we had scheduled differently we could be 5-0 right now," said Tuell. "We could have played a few of the Puerto Rico teams and a couple of lesser programs. Other than West Liberty, I thought St. Thomas was the second best team we've played, which is why they are nationally ranked in the NAIA and should go far in the postseason this year. Losing to them on their floor in overtime was nothing to be ashamed of, especially when you consider that they are much better than they were a year ago when they beat Florida Southern at Southern. But scheduling wins against lesser opponents just builds a sense of false confidence. We want to challenge these guys against the best possible opponents and when we begin to win our guys will know their success is the result of hard work and improved play and not the result of weak scheduling.
 
"Having said that, we're all tired of coming close. We're hungry to turn this thing around and start having some fun. But Belmont Abbey won't be an easy place to start, and we follow that game with Division I Florida International, Elite Eight Florida Southern, NCAA tourney participant Livingstone, defending NCAA DII national champ Drury and defending NCAA DIII national champ Amherst. Nothing is going to come easy for our guys. We just have to keep grinding and keep making progress."
 
On top of that, the Sharks will have to deal with Belmont Abbey without freshman Mike Terry (Ironton, Ohio). Terry will be out one game for personal reasons after emerging as one of the team's top-5 scorers and rebounders. NSU will look to his fellow active freshmen, Cameron Denney (Norwell, Ind.), Brandon Patchan (Tampa, Fla.) and Remi Farrell (Woodbridge, Conn.), to step up against a tough opponent.
 
Fans can follow the Sharks on Friday via live stats HERE.

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