Box Score BOX SCORE
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (14-10, 6-8 SSC) earned a Senior Day victory over the Lynn Fighting Knights (11-4, 3-12 SSC), 90-74, Saturday at the NSU Arena in the Don Taft University Center.
The Sharks had one of the best shooting nights in program history against the Knights, tying a program record by shooting 66.7 percent from the floor on 32-48 shooting. The Sharks nailed a new program record 16 3-pointers on 23 attempts. The Sharks also shot 10-for-10 from the free throw line, four short of the program’s best total on a perfect night.
Prior to the game,
Iran Hollis (Sr., Hollywood, Fla.), Sean Mullan (Sr., Mangerton, Australia), Raj Prabhakar (Jr., Miami, Fla.), Lukas Roesch (Sr., Sugar Grove, Ohio) and Louie Schonauer (Sr., Lincoln, Ill.) were all honored before competing in the final home games of their careers. All five played significant minutes in front of their friends and family.
"This was a great day for our five seniors," said head coach Gary Tuell. "They were great out there. It was fun watching them play, watching them have fun and playing together. As a coach, you dream about having seniors like these guys. They're special on and off the floor.
"Every coach also dreams of nights like this when your team shoots beautifully. The most impressive stat of the night wasn't our 16 of 23 threes, or our 65 percent overall shooting. The stat that blew me away was 25 assists on our 32 made baskets. That shows how well our guys moved the ball, how unselfish we were and how good our chemistry is. We continue to improve. We don't want the season to end. That's why we're running at seven every morning and getting in extra shooting. Our guys are giving everything they have. We're not done yet."
Roesch earned a double-double with a career-high 11 assists along with 11 points. His assist total was three off the school record. He also recorded four rebounds. Hollis led the Sharks with 21 points and seven rebounds. He shot 9-for-11 from the floor and had three steals. Mullan came off the bench to score 14 points on 4-for-6 shooting.
The Sharks started off the night well, running up a 20-9 lead at the start of the game. Lynn eventually tied the game at 26-all, but the Sharks outscored Lynn, 16-6, over the last seven minutes of the half to take a 42-32 lead at the break. Maurice Fuller (So., Westfield, Ind.) scored all 15 of his points on 5-for-6 shooting in the opening half.
The Sharks’ hot shooting protected their lead in the second half, despite a strong Lynn performance. NSU shot 8-for-9 from 3-point range in the second half, squashing any momentum Lynn could accumulate. The Sharks eventually built a 20-point lead with 3:33 left on a free throw by Brian Cahill (So., Arlington, Va.). Roesch would later hit a 3-pointer with 1:29 left to give the Sharks their largest lead at 90-68. Lynn hit two 3-pointers down the stretch to finalize the score.
Lynn put forth a solid effort, shooting 48 percent from 3-point range, forcing 16 turnovers and pulling down 16 offensive rebounds. However, it was not enough to defeat a team shooting at its all-time best mark.
The starting front court of Cahill and Justin Jeangerard (So., Weaverville, Calif.) each had four rebounds and four assists, and combined to shoot 8-for-10 from the floor. Cahill scored 12 points while Jeangerard added 11. Schonauer came off the bench to score six points and tally three assists.
The Sharks will play the rest of their schedule on the road, starting with a game in Melbourne, Fla. against Florida Tech at 7:30 p.m. The game will broadcast live on 640 Sports.
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