Box Score
MELBOURNE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men's basketball team (6-11, 3-3 SSC) had a record-setting shooting night but could not capture the road win, falling to the Florida Tech Panthers (13-4, 3-3 SSC) Wednesday, 97-86.
NSU shot 21-for-44 from 3-point range, setting new program records for makes and attempts. NSU only took 20 field goal attempts and made six from inside the arc. Florida Tech earned the win with a hot-shooting night of its own, draining 36-of-59 shot attempts including 13-for-24 from 3-point range.
The Sharks were paced by
Brian Cahill (Jr., Arlington, Va.) who scored a team-best 21 points on 5-for-13 shooting from 3-point range. He also tied a career-high with seven assists.
Maurice Fuller (Jr., Westfield, Ind.) scored a career-high 20 points on 6-for-10 shooting, all from downtown.
Casey Carroll (So., Youngstown, Ohio) scored 17 points on 5-for-10 shooting. For the home team, Jermaine Jackson scored a career high 38 points.
I thought Jermaine Jackson was the difference in the game, obviously," said head coach
Gary Tuell. "He's always been one the of the best offensive players in the league. Tonight he played at a different level than I've ever seen him play. Whenever he can make 7 3's in a game it's almost impossible to beat that team. Chris Carter making 4 3's was also huge for them. It was an example of two really good players stepping up to carry their team.
"I thought Maurice Fuller and Brian Cahill were terrific. Casey Carroll did a nice job off the bench."
NSU did not start the game off shooting strong, but stayed with Florida Tech early by causing 11 first-half turnovers. The Panthers jumped out to an 18-8 lead early, but could not run away with the game early. NSU would cut the deficit to three points just before the break, before Florida Tech's Carter hit trey on the final first half possesion. NSU trailed at the break, 47-43.
Fuller scored 12 of his 20 points in the first half, keeping NSU in the game. Although the defense created takeaways, NSU would only score three first-half points off turnovers.
The second half started with another Carter 3-pointer, putting NSU down by nine. Florida Tech shot lights out in the first half and only got hotter throughout the second. However, The Panthers nearly cut their turnovers in half, committing only six after the break. NSU would attempt to shoot its way out of a hole, but could not get the necessary stops it needed. The Sharks trailed throughout the entertaining period, down by as much as 16 points at 88-72 with four minutes left.
NSU made the game competitive by not only shooting at a record-setting pace, but also winning the turnover battle, 10-17. Unfortunately, Florida Tech's size would play a huge factor. The Panthers outrebounded NSU, 40-24. They also collected 11 of 27 available offensive rebounds.
"We had a lot of breakdowns in our press," said Tuell. "But we can fix that. They are so big. They were hard to trap because they could throw over the top of us. Obviously, when they get the ball inside we are almost defenseless because of the size difference. When you break the game down in halves, they beat us by six in the first half and five in the second half. And they were playing about as well as a team could play.
"I'm proud of our guys, I thought we hung in there. For the most part we answered their baskets with our own. The difference was we just couldn't get much done inside. When you make 21 3's and shoot 48 percent, score 86 points on the road and force 17 turnovers, you expect to win most games. It wasn't a case of our guys not playing well. Size matters. We'll learn from this and hopefully be a better team from this experience. Our guys continue to improve. We are looking forward to playing a really good Tampa team Saturday."
Stian Berg (Jr., Baerum, Norway) continued his efficient shooting season by scoring 13 points on 4-for-5 shooting. He was a perfect 3-for-3 from long distance.
Justin Jeangerard (Jr., Weaverville, Calif.) recorded 11 points, four assists and two steals.
Chris Page (So., Plainfield, Ind.) rounded out the starters by dishing out five assists and collecting a team-best five boards.
NSU will stay on the road for the next outing at Tampa Saturday at 4 p.m.
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