Box Score BOX SCORE
MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team (15-11, 7-9 SSC) won its final regular season game of the season Saturday, defeating the Barry Buccaneers (13-13, 6-10 SSC), 61-57, on the road. The win placed the Sharks sixth in the upcoming 2013 Sunshine State Conference Tournament, pitting them against Eckerd.
Lukas Roesch (Sr., Sugar Grove, Ohio) led the Sharks with 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting. He scored the final bucket of the game, which put the Sharks up by four points with 11 seconds left.
Iran Hollis (Sr., Hollywood, Fla.) and
Brian Cahill (So., Arlington, Va.) each had a team-best nine rebounds. Cahill also chipped in a game-high six assists.
Justin Jeangerard (So., Weaverville, Calif.) added 13 points and seven rebounds.
“This game was about toughness, it was about heart, it was about pride,” stated head coach
Gary Tuell. “All the things you don’t know your team has until they compete. It wasn’t always pretty, we had too many turnovers tonight. In the end, we did what we have been doing for the last eight games, we had fun. I’ve never been more proud of a team than this one.”
The Sharks controlled the first half against Barry, but did not run away with the game. Barry had its only lead of the day just 30 seconds in at 3-2, but the Sharks responded with a 10-3 run. Barry came within a point of the Sharks, but never took away the lead. NSU led at the break, 30-24.
Six minutes into the second half, NSU secured its first double digit lead at 43-33 on a Roesch layup with 14:51 remaining. Four minutes later,
Sean Mullan (Sr., Mangerton, Australia) hit a 3-point shot to give NSU its largest lead, 53-41.
From there, the Sharks allowed the home team to slowly creep back into the contest. Barry responded to Mullan’s 3-pointer with a 10-2 run, allowed by four straight turnovers without a single shot attempt. The situation only worsened when Hollis, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder this season, fouled out with 3:36 left to play.
Barry would tie the game with 2:38 remaining on two made free throws by Chad Renfro, who was celebrating his Senior Day. From there, NSU won the game with solid defense, holding the Bucs to 0-for-5 shooting down the stretch.
Stian Berg (So., Baerum, Norway) made two clutch free throw shots to put NSU back ahead, before Roesch’s layup put the game on ice with 11 seconds left.
The Sharks finished the game with 10 3-pointers made, the most NSU has ever made in Barry’s HSC Gym. The Sharks have now made 43 3-pointers in three games, and average of over 14 a contest. NSU lost the turnover and free throw battle, but won the game by outshooting Barry, 44 percent to 37 percent. The Sharks shot 21-for-48 in the contest and 10-for-28 from 3-point range.
Mullan and Berg brought efficient production off the bench, scoring 12 and 10, respectively on 58 percent shooting.
The Sharks will now get set for their first round game in the SSC Tournament on Friday, March 8 against third-seeded Eckerd at 7:30 p.m.
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