CANYON, Texas – The Nova Southeastern University men's basketball team fell prey to a hot-shooting West Texas A&M squad, falling in their opening game at the Pak-a-Sak West Texas Thanksgiving Classic, 90-61 to the host school on Friday night.
 
The Sharks (2-2) fell behind by double digits early to the Buffaloes (4-2), but cut it to six with 4:06 to go in the first half, on the second of three consecutive baskets from Remi Farrell (Jr., Woodbridge, Conn.) off the bench. In a little over two minutes of game time, Farrell hit a 3-pointer, that layup and later, a jumper, in as many attempts.
 
However, after his middle shot made it 36-30, WTAMU scored eight of the next 12 points to close the half, going up 10 at the break, 44-34. The momentum didn't stop with intermission, with the Buffs starting the second half on a 13-4 run. A Casey Carroll (R-Jr., Youngstown, Ohio) 3-pointer at 17:25 looked to stop the stretch, but instead, back-to-back 3's by David Chavlovich gave the home team their biggest lead at that time – 20, at 67-47 – less than a minute later (16:29).
 
Carroll would hit a layup on the Sharks' next possession, followed by an old-fashioned three-point play by Jordan Stookey (So., Warsaw, Ind.). After 1-of-2 free throws by WTAMU's Eric Golightly, Dwayne Gibson, Jr. (Fr., Indianapolis, Ind.) added another layup to cut it to 61-47, capping a 7-1 Shark mini-run.

But again the Buffs answered, scoring the next six to match their earlier 20-point advantage. It would be at least 16 the remainder of the way, and WTAMU scored the last 11 points to extend the final margin.

"That was ugly," said Tuell of the Friday result. "It was probably unfair to expect a lot from our guys after the ordeal they went through Thursday. We left campus at 6:45 a.m. and went through sleet, ice and snow before getting to our hotel in Texas at 2:30 a.m. I'm sure we were tired, but we don't want excuses."
 
Carroll had NSU team highs of 16 points and eight rebounds, with shooting lines of 5-of-9 overall, 3-of-6 from 3-point range and 3-of-5 from the free throw line. Chris Page (Sr., Plainfield, Ind.) had 14 points and three assists.
 
Farrell was next with seven, followed by Gibson with six. The duo combined for seven rebounds. Carroll, Farrell and Gibson helped the Sharks to a 42-19 bench point advantage in the game.

"As a coach, you try to fairly analyze each game and evaluate based on what your players bring to the fight," said Tuell. "We really didn't compete anywhere near our ability. Losing Nick Pendergast (Sr., Bridgewater, Conn.) early in the first half hurt us, because in my opinion, Nick has been our most efficient player. That had a huge impact on our team."
 
Overall, WTAMU shot 49.2 percent, 52 percent after the break, snuffing out any possibility of a Shark comeback. They were led by Jordan Evans' 24 points, with Chavlovich adding 23.

"I wasn't happy with the way we played at either end of the floor once Nick went down," said Tuell. "I do think Remi Farrell, Casey Carroll and Dwayne Gibson did some good things when they were out there. But the team we put out on the floor tonight, regardless of which lineup was out there, didn't remotely resemble the team we can be.

"We continue to have a lot of new and young players struggle to stay disciplined on the offensive end, and that's fine, because we expect that," Tuell continued. "But our defensive effort is far away from what it takes to compete and win at this level. We can live with mistakes, but we can't live with a ho-hum effort on the defensive end, which we've gotten at points during the last couple of games. That has to change."

The Sharks end play in Canyon with an 8:30 p.m. EST matchup Saturday against Eastern New Mexico.

"We have to find the right guys who are going to execute offensively and play with pride and accountability on the defensive end," said Tuell. "Tomorrow is a new day. We will work all night to fix this. Our guys will learn and we will bounce back."