Box Score
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men's basketball team (2-8) gave the defending NCAA Division II National Champions, No. 3 Drury (9-0), all they could handle Thursday, but came up short in a 75-71 home loss.
Casey Carroll (So., Youngstown, Ohio) led the Sharks in the near-upset, earning career-highs with 21 points and 10 rebounds. He shot 8-for-12 from the floor and 2-for-4 from 3-point range.
Justin Jeangerard (Jr., Weaverville, Calif.) had 18 points, five rebounds and three steals.
"It wasn't always pretty but it was as hard fought and tough a game as we've been in, which is exactly what you expect when you line up against the undefeated, third-ranked, defending national champs," stated head coach Gary Tuell. "There was never a question about whether Drury would be as good as advertised. We saw them on film and we saw them live. The question was whether the unheralded, under-manned little NSU team could compete one more time with one of the best teams in the nation. Remember, this Drury team had Duke down at the half at Duke and pushed the Blue Devils to the brink before losing a great game against one of the great teams in college ball.
"Our guys played without their leader (
Brian Cahill (Jr., Arlington, Va.), sidelined for the second straight game with a leg injury). And they took Drury's best punch and refused to go away. We outscored them 47-39 in the second half, out-rebounded them and fought relentlessly from start to finish. We had them on the ropes in the last couple minutes because our kids refuse to give in."
The Sharks fought from behind for most of the first half Thursday, but were able to stay in the game by disrupting Drury's offense. The Panthers committed 11 turnovers in the opening half, due to the Sharks' blistering full-court press. However, when Drury beat the press they were nearly unstoppable, shooting 73 percent from the floor in the first half. With NSU down, 25-20, Drury built its first double digit lead by going on an 11-4 run to end the half.
NSU struggled to find their range in the first half, shooting 8-for-24 from the floor and 4-for-15 from 3-point range. However, the Sharks held Drury to no offensive rebounds in the period. Carroll and Jeangerard each had seven points at halftime.
"We know if we can keep the game close for 30 minutes we have a great shot at winning because we're going to wear most teams down in the last 10 minutes," said Tuell.
NSU would trail by as much as 14 points with 15 minutes to go, but made a second-half run to make the game competitive. NSU went on a 15-5 run that cut the score to 54-50 with 9:10 remaining. Three minutes later, Carroll pulled down an offensive rebound and converted a three-point play to put the Drury lead at 58-55. It would be the closest NSU would get to Drury, but the Sharks fought to the final second.
With 3:37 remaining in the game, NSU had the chance to cut the deficit down to three points again, but missed a corner trey and gave up a three-point play on the other end to put themselves behind by nine. From there, Drury struggled to seal the game at the free throw line. They were sent to the line on nearly every possession and shot 5-for-12 there over the final three minutes. NSU worked the deficit down to four points, but did not have enough time to complete the comeback.
Overall, it was one of the wildest games NSU has played in this year. NSU forced and committed 23 turnovers, a season-high on offense and defense. NSU was forced to overcome a hot-shooting Drury squad, which ended the game shooting 60 percent from the floor and 50 percent from 3-point range. NSU shot 20 percent less, but evened the playing field by grabbing 14 offensive rebounds to Drury's six.
"I thought Drury was terrific," said Tuell. "They are probably the most complete team we have played this year and we've faced Division II's number one, number three, number four, number 12 and number 13 teams, not to mention a couple of pretty good Division I teams. Drury has a half dozen great shooters and two or three outstanding low post players. They are tenacious in both their full court and half court defenses. Great, great team.
"But I couldn't be any more proud of our guys if they had won, and believe me, we could have won this game. We have been in every game we've played. We've gone toe-to-toe with some of the best teams in the nation and we've learned how to compete at a level no NSU team has played at before. We may not be an Elite Eight team, but we can certainly compete and play with them."
Chris Page (So., Plainfield, Ind.) and
Stian Berg (Jr., Baerum, Norway) each had nine points. Berg chipped in a team-best four assists while Page collected four steals.
Cameron Denney (Fr., Norwell, Ind.) and
Maurice Fuller (Westfield, Ind.) each had seven points. The mark was a career-best for Denney.
NSU will return on New Year's Day to host the NCAA Division III National Champions, Amherst, at 6 p.m. in the NSU Arena.
"Playing the schedule we've faced has been great for us," stated Tuell. "It's toughened us up, it's taught us the value of hard work and its given us a lot of confidence. When we play hard and give great effort we know we're good. We don't need a won-loss record to tell us we're good. We can compete with the best teams in DII and a bunch of DI."
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