Box Score WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University men's basketball team (6-7, 2-3 SSC) led for nearly the entire second half and defeated the Rollins Tars (7-8, 0-5 SSC), 55-53, on the road Wednesday.
Chris Page (Jr., Plainfield, Ind.) paced the Sharks with 19 points on 7-for-14 shooting. He also tallied five rebounds and three steals.
Harrison Goodrick (So., Sydney, Australia) and
Stian Berg (Sr., Baerum, Norway) each tied season-highs with 12 rebounds and seven assists, respectively. Berg also chipped in 11 points and six rebounds.
"Anytime you win on the road in this league, you have to be happy," stated head coach
Gary Tuell. "I thought our guys did a terrific job on the defensive end. We continue to improve defensively and we won tonight's game with our defense. Out of the last five games, I think we've been really good on the defensive end in at least four of those. There are times when are defenses are overwhelmed by the sheer size or athleticism of our opponents. But for the most part, our guys have been playing with tremendous effort and determination on the defensive end. Tonight was a perfect example.
"Offensively, there were moments when we were very, very good and there were other moments when we were just as bad as we were good. Our decision making, our composure and our confidence were missing in the last four minutes. But our defense was good enough to help us hang on and get the win. When we move the ball and make good decisions, we are a very tough team to deal with. Most of our problems come when we're too tentative or unsure of ourselves. As a coach, I'm not sure how to fix that, but as I told our players after the game, that's on them. They have to look inside and recognize the mistakes they are making and have the desire to do it a different and better way."
NSU got off to a hot start Wednesday but eventually cooled off. The Sharks nailed five of their first seven 3-pointers, but would run cold and miss five of their next six. However, the Tars missed seven of their first 10 3-pointers, keeping them from building a substantial early lead.
Neither team led by more than a possession for most of the half, until Alex Blessig hit a long 2-pointer that gave Rollins its largest lead at 28-23. Before the break,
Justin Jeangerard (Sr., Weaverville, Calif.) added a free throw and Berg hit a long 3-pointer to bring the halftime score to 28-27. NSU shot 33 percent in the first half, but completely shut down Rollins on the perimeter. The Tars shot 3-for-14 from 3-point range before halftime and made only one trip to the foul line.
NSU retook the lead on the very first possession of the second half and built on it with back-to-back 3-pointers from Jeangerard and Page. On the other end, Rollins' offensive woes worsened, with the Tars going over three minutes without a field goal. Mike Bedulskis ended the drought with a put-back layup, but the Sharks answered with a pair of treys from
Mike Chalas (Jr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) and Berg, giving NSU its first double-digit lead at 47-36 with 8:24 left.
Less than a minute later, Goodrick hit a layup to give NSU their largest lead at 13. Down the stretch, NSU hit another cold spell, allowing Rollins to climb back into the contest. The Tars went on a 14-3 run and forced eight turnovers in the final four minutes.
Rollins cut the deficit down to one point off an inbounds-pass steal and a layup from Kyle Koszuta with 13 seconds left. NSU turned the ball over a final time with 11 seconds left, allowing Rollins to shoot for the victory. The Tars were able to get a 3-point attempt from the left corner, but it went long. Berg pulled down the rebound and was immediately fouled. With 1.9 seconds left, Berg hit his first free throw, enough to seal the result. Rollins' half-court prayer at the buzzer was waived off and the Sharks ended the night with a win.
Although the Sharks shot 33.9 percent (19-for-56) from the floor, the effort on the defensive end earned NSU its second Sunshine State Conference victory. The Sharks held Rollins to a 22-for-60 shooting performance and one free throw attempt. Rollins ended the night shooting 8-for-33 from 3-point range. On the other end, NSU made up for late turnovers by creating second chance opportunities on 17 offensive rebounds.
"Realistically, you have to understand that we're three scholarship players down… that we are basically a seven-man team right now. And one of those seven is a freshman," admitted Tuell. "Fatigue is an issue for us. But our guys have big hearts, and they are learning to play through being tired. I couldn't be more proud of the way they battled and fought, period. But that's been the case for the last four or five games. We are playing with a lot of determination and a lot of heart. We are so small and so thin in numbers, that for us to have any chance, we need a supreme effort from everybody. And fortunately, the guys are giving us that."
Jeangerard finished the game with 10 points and five rebounds. Off the bench, Chalas shot 2-for-5, all from 3-point range, for six points.
Maurice Fuller (Sr., Westfield, Ind.) scored five points and pulled down six rebounds. The win marked NSU's first at the Alfond Sports Center since a 67-65 win on Feb. 14, 2009.
"Harrison was a monster on the boards for us, and everybody hit timely shots," Tuell said. "I thought Mike Chalas played well off the bench, and I thought Stian did a lot of things well. He hit a couple of big buckets, had some rebounds and assists and ran our offense the way you want a senior point guard to do it."
The Sharks will continue their three-game road slate this weekend against No. 7 Barry in Miami Shores, Fla. at 4 p.m. on 640 Sports.
"We're not much to look at, but our little band of warriors continue to give great effort and play with tremendous determination. Hopefully we'll learn from this game and continue to build on what we do."
