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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men's basketball team (12-15, 8-7 SSC) will look to finish its regular season strong Saturday in a game at the Saint Leo Lions (21-7, 9-6 SSC) at 4 p.m. The game will broadcast live on 640 Sports.
"It's always fun trying to figure a way to beat Saint Leo," said head coach
Gary Tuell. "Lance Randall has done another masterful coaching job, getting the Lions to 21 wins at this stage. I'm sure they're not done winning, so that total will probably grow. Defensively they are disciplined, tough and do a great job with both their pressure on the ball and their help away from the ball. Offensively they've got a stable of different guys who can score, but none is more prolific than Jerrel Harris. He can light you up from any place on the floor and beat you with the three or beat you off the dribble. He's one of the two or three players in the league who are almost unguardable.
"I'm glad we have the opportunity to share the floor with Saint Leo on their Senior Day. It will be nice to be participate in the party that celebrates the accomplishments of Harris, Chim Kadima and Spenser Mitchell. Those three guys have been great for our league and have done an outstanding job helping coach Randall take that program to the top of our league. I love playing teams that are good, and Saint Leo is certainly good. They're battling to finish second in the league and they're currently ranked third in the NCAA South Region. Playing them anywhere, anytime is always a huge challenge, but playing them on a day when they're honoring Harris, Kadima and Mitchell just makes the task that much more daunting. I wish we were healthy. We're not, and we're doing everything we can to get healthy for next week's conference tournament, but for Saturday's game Leo will be the team with all the emotion and energy and we'll be the team that's held together by tape, braces and maybe a little chicken wire."
As beat up as the Sharks may be, they find themselves playing for a top seed in the Sunshine State Conference Tournament. NSU can finish as high as third with some help (a win in a Rollins loss at Florida Southern), but will secure at least fourth place in the standings. A loss places NSU at sixth and a Wednesday's game against Barry, Eckerd or Rollins.
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Casey Carroll (So., Youngstown, Ohio) and
Brian Cahill (Jr., Arlington, Va.) are sore, tired and worn down," admitted Tuell. "Cahill is having complications from his two previous back surgeries and Casey is nursing a back injury, an ankle injury and a constant issue with a shoulder. On top of that,
Maurice Fuller (Jr., Westfield, Ind.) missed our last game (a 75-73 win over visiting Florida Tech) and may not be available against Leo. His knee is improving but he's far from 100 percent. None of those three guys have practiced this week, and that has to affect our rhythm, cohesion, chemistry and execution at both ends.
"For us to beat Saint Leo we'll have to play a terrific game at both ends and we'll need to rebound the ball much better than we have since Casey and Brian have been struggling with their back problems. We're small and not physical to begin with, but both Brian and Casey are playing very tentatively in the paint or around traffic. I understand that. They can't explode off the floor to rebound and they shy away from contact to protect their backs. We'll see if they can go on Saturday, but if not we'll rely on our three freshmen,
Brandon Patchan (Tampa, Fla.),
Cameron Denney (Norwell, Ind.) and
Remi Farrell (Woodbridge, Conn.), to help us on the boards."
NSU will be looking to secure a season-sweep of Saint Leo after winning at home against the Lions, 89-63. Carroll had a career-best night and led the Sharks with 22 points and seven rebounds. He shot 7-for-9 from the floor and 6-for-6 from 3-point range, becoming the first Shark to go perfect from downtown with at least five 3-point attempts.
Chris Page (So., Plainfield, Ind.) scored 19 points on 5-for-9 shooting and added four rebounds and blocks apiece.
"In our first meeting we were in the middle of an incredible hot streak," said Tuell. "We were shooting the 3 at an unbelievable clip and we needed all of them to beat Saint Leo in that game. There was a point near midway of the second half when Leo made a big run at us and our guys had the look of a tired, beaten team. Sort of like a boxer who was trying to hang on and avoid a late-round knockout. But our guys dug down deep the final eight or nine minutes, put aside their fatigue, and battled back to put the game out of reach late. It was perhaps our best game in terms of mental toughness."
NSU enters this game off a win against Florida Tech at home, 75-73. However, NSU had a tough stretch prior to the win, falling in three-straight games against teams the Sharks had previously defeated. Like those teams, the Lions will be looking to exact revenge on the Sharks.
"I suspect the start of Saturday's game will be similar to our recent game at Barry," predicted Tuell. "They came into that game all wired up and excited and determined to make a point and they got us down 18-3 to start the game. But we weathered the storm and began doing what we do, executing beautifully and finding a way to battle back. Eventually we got the lead in the second half and from there on it was anybody's game. Barry made a couple of plays in the final two minutes and we didn't, and that was the ball game. But it was a great college game and I think our guys deserved a lot of credit for making it that way. We could have folded our tents in the first 10 minutes but we came to play. I'm anticipating Saint Leo coming out red hot and full of emotion, and once again we'll have to weather that storm and hang in there. We've done it before. We can do it again. If we can get anything at all out of the three guys who are hurt, and if our freshmen will give us some help on defense and the boards, then we'll have a chance to join the party Saturday and make it an interesting game.
"Win or lose Saturday, it won't make much difference. Before the night is over we'll all know who we are playing in the first round of the Sunshine State Conference tournament and our thoughts an attention will turn to the postseason. There won't be much time to celebrate a victory or mourn a loss from Saturday's game. We'll spend the bus ride home planning and preparing for the next one. As big as Saturday's game is at Saint Leo for both teams, it really is meaningless once it's over. Because the next game – the tournament opener – will be the biggest game of the year for all the teams in our league. It's been a crazy, wild and fun ride through the regular season. There is no reason to believe the post-season tourney won't be just as interesting."
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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