Box Score

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University men's basketball team (6-10, 2-5 SSC) took it to the final buzzer, but were outlasted by the Florida Tech Panthers (12-6, 2-5 SSC) on Saturday at the NSU Arena, 77-74.
 
NSU had three in double digits, led by Stian Berg's (Sr., Baerum, Norway) season-best 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while going 4-of-5 from 3-point range. Brian Cahill (Sr., Arlington, Va.) made five 3-pointers for 15 on the day, while Justin Jeangerard (Sr., Weaverville, Calif.) had 13, including three 3's.

"Florida Tech is such a big, athletic, talented team," said head coach Gary Tuell. "We knew it was going to be a real challenge because we are so small, it was going to be hard to keep them off the glass. They pounded us in the paint, pounded us on the glass. When teams can do that to you they are usually going to win. I'm surprised we played them as close as we did and that we had a chance to win the game. When you get outrebounded 40-21 and get outscored in the paint like crazy, like they did, you usually aren't even in the game. I'm proud of our guys, I think they competed… I do think we can play a lot better than this. My only disappointment is that I think we didn't play as good defensively as we have been."
 
The Sharks started off the day on a strong note, coming out to a quick 7-0 lead by scoring on the first three of their trips down the court. FIT center Corbin Jackson broke the run with a basket in the paint, but NSU went on to push their lead to 16-6 in just over six minutes.
 
With the game seemingly falling into NSU's hands, the Panthers made their first major push. FIT went on a 14-0 run to take a 20-16 lead, with the first 12 points coming from Corbin Jackson and Chris Carter. With 10:21 left in the first half, Berg hit a 3-pointer that snapped a four minute scoreless streak. The Sharks would soon tie FIT at 22, allowing the game to stabilize for the remainder of the half. Neither team led by more than a handful of points, but NSU would end the half with the momentum, leading 44-40.
 
NSU had one of its best shooting halves of the season, going 16-for-30 with 10 made 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes. Although FIT struggled from deep, shooting 4-for-16 from outside arc, the Panthers shot 53 percent from the floor and pulled down nine offensive rebounds to NSU's four.
 
The majority of the second half saw both teams shooting well, but neither could gain distance from the other. For the first nine minutes of the half, neither team would lead by more than five points, and the game was tied at 60 apiece with exactly 11:00 showing on the scoreboard.
 
The Panthers scored the next seven, and though NSU quickly got five back of their own to cut it to two (67-65, 7:38), again, the visitors went on a run, this time 8-0 to push it to double digits at 2:42, 75-65.

The Sharks again did not relent, scoring the next nine, capped by a Cahill 3-pointer with 33 seconds to go. The Sharks put Caleb Wigginton on the line for the 1-and-1, and he missed, but the Panthers came away with the offensive board. Again put on the line, Wigginton made them both, and a contested Chris Page (Jr., Plainfield, Ind.) 3-point attempt rimmed out with just seconds remaining. FIT got the rebound, and though the ensuing free throw missed, 1.6 seconds was not enough time for the Sharks to get a desperation heave.
 
FIT shot 53 percent on the day (31-for-58), and more than doubled up the Sharks in rebounding, 41-20. NSU was just a tick below 50 percent at 48.2 (27-of-56), while making 16 of 36 3-point attempts.
 
Besides the three in double digits, Harrison Goodrick (So., Sydney, Australia) chipped in with eight points and tied Page for the team high with three steals. In addition, Page had seven points and the team's best of four rebounds and four assists.
 
For the Panthers, Corbin Jackson led all scorers with 24 points on 12-of-13 shooting, and had 11 rebounds as well. Wigginton had 20 and six boards, while Carter narrowly missed out on a triple-double, scoring 15 points, dishing out 11 assists and pulling down nine rebounds.
 
The Sharks will continue their homestand and complete the first half of the Sunshine State Conference schedule on Wednesday against Saint Leo at 7:30 p.m. The game has been deemed men's basketball's Shark Night.