Box Score

ST. LEO, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern men's basketball team (12-16, 8-8 SSC) dropped its final regular season game Saturday on the road against the Saint Leo Lions (22-7, 10-6 SSC), 81-68.

The loss puts the Sharks in a tie with the Rollins Tars at 8-8 in the overall standings. The two teams will battle it out in the first round of the Sunshine State Conference Tournament on Wednesday, March 5 at 5 p.m.

Brian Cahill (Jr., Arlington, Va.) led the Sharks with 20 points and four rebounds. Chris Page (So., Plainfield, Ind.) was just as solid with 19 points and a team-best five assists. The duo combined to shoot 14-for-31 from the floor.

Saint Leo jumped on the Sharks early and climbed out to a 15-5 lead to begin the day. NSU momentarily stopped the Lions' momentum, cutting the deficit to five points. However, two straight 3-point plays in a row put the Lions back up by double digits with 12:44 left in the first period.

The Lions would lead by as much as 17 points with seven minutes remaining. However, the Sharks did not miss a shot during a four-minute stretch and cut their deficit down to 43-36 before Saint Leo's Jerrel Harris nailed a buzzer-beater to put his team up by eight points at halftime.

The first half served as great entertainment for the crowd, as the two teams shot at least 45 percent from the floor and combined to take 37 3-point attempts. The half was almost mistake free with NSU making only one turnover to Saint Leo's three. The Lions put themselves at an advantage on the glass, outrebounding NSU 22-11 at halftime. Cahill and Page combined to score 24 of NSU's 36 points before the break.