Box Score
BOX SCORE
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men's basketball team (15-12) ended its season in the 2013 Sunshine State Conference Tournament, losing to the No. 25 Eckerd Tritons, 62-48, Friday at the Silver Spurs Arena.
"I'm really proud of our guys and how hard they played," said head coach Gary Tuell. "We got everything out of this team and these kids gave everything they had. They competed, played hard and had a heck of a fun year. For us to be as small as we are, I thought these guys were terrific. It has been a joy and a privilege to coach these guys."
Brian Cahill (So., Arlington, Va.) and Iran Hollis (Sr., Hollywood, Fla.) each scored a team-best 14 points in the game. Hollis also led the Sharks with seven rebounds. Lukas Roesch (Sr., Sugar Grove, Ohio) scored eight points and dished out a team-best three assists.
The Sharks fell behind early, as Eckerd came out to an 11-2 lead over the first eight minutes of the game. From there, the Sharks put the pressure on and took over the first half. Down 19-16 with less than five minutes remaining, the Sharks ended the period on an 11-2 run. Cahill scored seven of his 14 first half points during the run.
The Sharks shot 45.5 percent in the first half and led at the break, 27-21. The Sharks forced 11 turnovers midway through the game and held Eckerd to no free throw attempts.
The wheels came off in the second half, as the Sharks struggled to score. NSU only scored three points over the first 9:42 of the period. In the meantime, Eckerd scored 22 points before NSU scored its second field goal of the half and led with 10 minutes to go, 45-32. NSU went nearly 15 minutes in the second half before anyone outside of Hollis scored, with Sean Mullan (Sr., Mangerton, Australia) breaking the cold spell with a layup at the 5:09 mark. Eckerd answered with a jumper to put them up, 55-38.
Eckerd would lead by as much as 17 points in the game with 1:19 remaining and cruised to victory. The coaching staff put four seniors and junior Raj Prabhakar (Jr., Miami, Fla.), who finished his career tonight, on the court to finish strong in the final minute.
The Sharks only scored 21 points in the second half, capped off by a long 3-pointer from Louie Schonauer (Sr., Lincoln, Ill.) to avoid the season-low for points scored in a game. NSU shot 7-for-26 in the second half, while Eckerd went 11-for-20 with five 3-pointers. Eckerd also shot 14-for-17 from the free throw line in the second half alone.
The Sharks played their 10th game of the season against a team currently ranked in the top-25 national rankings, forming one of the toughest schedules in team history. Despite that, the Sharks' 15 wins ties for fourth most in program history.
For the latest NSU news and results, be sure to visit www.NSUSharks.com. To have results sent directly to your cell phone via text message, sign up for SMS text message delivery by clicking here. For the latest news, be sure to sign up for the Shark Alert E-newsletter by clicking here.
