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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men's basketball team (10-12, 6-4 SSC) will end its three-game home stand Wednesday against the Lyn Fighting Knights (7-13, 1-9 SSC) at 7:30 p.m. The game will broadcast live on 640 Sports.
"Despite the fact that we won at Lynn in early January, we need to play much better this time around than we did in our first meeting," said head coach
Gary Tuell. "Other than
Chris Page (So., Plainfield, Ind.) scoring some points, I don't think anyone played well for us at either end of the floor. Some of that was
Justin Jeangerard (Jr., Weaverville, Calif.) missing the game with a concussion and
Stian Berg (Jr., Baerum, Norway) getting in early foul trouble. But a lot of it had to do with Lynn's rebounding and defense. They absolutely destroyed us on the glass and kept the game close by getting second and third shots. And their man defense was tenacious. We were very fortunate to come away with a win.
"It's always good when you don't play well and still find a way to win, and I give a lot of credit to our guys for pulling out the victory at Lynn. But we have to perform much better in every phase of the game if we hope to win Wednesday."
NSU enters the game in third place in the Sunshine State Conference, a half-game behind Tampa and a half-game ahead of Barry. The SSC has been grueling for all teams, with eight of the nine members holding at least four conference losses. Although NSU is up at the time, one bad week could put the Sharks near the bottom of the standings. Lynn is currently in ninth place, but still able to move up with a late-season run.
"We probably won our first meeting by turning them over with our presses, but they're much improved in that area since the first time we played," Tuell pointed out. "They killed us on the glass, and if they can do that again then we're in trouble. A lot of people will tell you that their inconsistent three-point shooting has held them back, but when you look closely at the stats you can see the fallacy in that theory. Yes, Lynn shoots only 28 percent as a team on threes. But do you realize that they've made nine more threes on the season than their opponents? They have held opponents to 102 made threes in 20 games. Do the math. That means that teams are making an average of only five threes a game against Lynn's great defense. Lynn doesn't have to shoot the three well to win because they don't let other teams shoot it well. And on nights when Lynn shoots it well, they can be a dominant team.
"I love the way we have played up to this point in the season. We've improved vastly in a lot of areas. Our chemistry is good, our recognition is good, our execution and effort is good. Our spacing on offense has been very good and our ball movement has been very good. Our kids are working harder defensively and doing a better job on the glass. We don't have a senior on our club but we've really matured as a team. We haven't played poorly as a team in a long time. Maybe we're due to have a bad night, but then again, maybe we're going to keep getting better and better as the young kids continue to grow up."
NSU has become a top-SSC team with a style unlike any ever played at NSU. The Sharks start five guards and shoot 42 percent on 12 3-pointers a game against conference opponents. The team relied heavily on
Brian Cahill (Jr., Arlington, Va.) as the team's center and lead playmaker at first, but had to adjust when Cahill was shut down due to injury. Without the key to the system, NSU found new ways to win and had several players standout. NSU won two games without Cahill, and when he returns, the Sharks will be a more complete team than they were before the injury.
"Brian Cahill is much better physically than a week ago, but he's still a question mark when it comes to playing,"said Tuell. "He hasn't practiced for almost two weeks and that has to affect him. On the other hand,
Casey Carroll (So., Youngstown, Ohio) and
Brandon Patchan (Fr., Tampa, Fla.) have done such a great job filling in for Brian that we really haven't missed a beat without him. Obviously we hope he can play Wednesday or possibly Saturday at Rollins. We need his leadership and his depth and we're a much better pressing team when he's on the floor. But we're not going to rush him back into the lineup. It's day to day with him and it will probably be that way for the rest of the season.
"Every game at this stage in the season is magnified because teams are jockeying for seeding positions in the post season tournament. We know with a win Wednesday we can regain second place. But we have a lot of tough games left. We can't think about anything other than the next game. Our whole focus is on the next opponent, not on where we finish in the league. Besides, I don't know how finishing second, third or fourth is really any better than sixth, seventh or eighth. The teams in this league are all so good, and so closely bunched together, that I don't think anyone other than Florida Southern has proven to be head and shoulders above anyone else. Southern has earned the right to be called the favorite every night they play. But the rest of us? I don't think there's any such thing as an upset in this league. Anybody can beat anybody on any given night."
Tune into 640 Sports 15 minutes before the game for the pregame show. Fans can watch the game live HERE and follow live stats HERE.
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