Wednesday at Home, vs. Eastern at 7:30 p.m.: LIVE STREAMING | LIVE STATS

This Weekend at Florida Tech Holiday Classic
Friday vs. Arkansas Tech at 4:30 p.m.: LIVE STREAMING | LIVE STATS
Saturday vs. Lane at 12 p.m.: LIVE STREAMING | LIVE STATS

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University men's basketball team, fresh off final exams and coming off a 12-day break from in-game competition, hits the hardwood for three games in four days, beginning with a Wednesday home matchup against Eastern.

The Sharks (3-4, 1-2 SSC) last played on Dec. 4, against then-No. 17 Rollins, and held a large lead late before the Tars hit a last-second shot to win by one, 75-74. They'll look to turn it around Wednesday night at 7:30 against DIII squad Eastern (5-3), from St. Davids, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia.

Following that, NSU will play two in Melbourne, at the Florida Tech Holiday Classic. Friday, they take on Arkansas Tech (5-2) at 4:30; on Saturday, it's the Sharks vs. Lane (4-6) at high noon.
 
NSUSharks.com caught up with men's head coach Gary Tuell ahead of these three games to end the pre-holiday break portion of the Sharks' 2015-16 schedule:

Q: After a tough road trip on and off the court and, arguably, an even tougher loss last time out, how has the team utilized the downtime from competition? Besides shoring up nagging injuries and illness, what else has gone into the "rest" period?
 
GT: "We had final exams last week, so our focus for the week was to study and do well on finals. After the Rollins game Friday, we gave the players Saturday and Sunday off, had a light workout on Monday, and then gave them Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday off to study. We came back Friday with a good practice and worked both days over the weekend. We're rusty right now, but three games in four days this week will be good for us. We have a couple of guys, Nick Pendergast (Sr., Bridgewater, Conn.) and Casey Carroll (R-Jr., Youngstown, Ohio), who are shaking off injuries. So the down time has been good for their recovery. Other than that, we're just watching a lot of film and preparing for the upcoming games."
 
Q: You've often talked about how much you enjoy this group of players. Were you and the players, and the players themselves, able to further that connection these last two weeks in and around finals?
 
GT: "Every day is an opportunity to grow closer as a team. We haven't done anything special because final exams take priority over everything, including basketball, but the break has given the coaching staff a chance to watch a lot of film. We've been able to evaluate some of our guys and see where we are and talk about what we need to do to improve. Our guys are close and I'm sure they're enjoying some time together now that final exams are over. This is a great group of young men, they come to work every day when we're in the gym. I'm not sure people, even those who work in athletics, sometimes have an appreciation for how hard the players and coaches work over the holidays. We were on a road trip over Thanksgiving, while everyone else is home enjoying turkey and all the trimmings. While other students finished final exams and went home a week ago, our guys are still here grinding and working in the gym and the weight room. They will get a short break, but they'll be back 10 days before the rest of the students because we have practice and games and film sessions and weights. Coaches are working every day over the holidays, watching film, scouting, doing film edits, preparing for practices and games, recruiting. 
 
"People don't understand the time and pressures coaches and players work under, even during holidays. But we know we're privileged to be in this position and we're fortunate to have these opportunities. As a coach you want to do everything you can to help your guys have success because you appreciate the commitment they make every single day. You understand that they have families and girlfriends and buddies they want to see or hang out with, but they sacrifice a lot of those things to represent our university and to be a part of a basketball team. As a coaching staff, we're just especially blessed to have the guys we have on this team and to be able to share these times and these opportunities with them. And we're especially grateful that they give up so much, without complaining, for the chance to be a part of this team. When you consider the hours, the days, the weeks that they put into the team and the things they give up that other students, faculty and staff take for granted, it's a little overwhelming."
 
Q: Wednesday's opponent Eastern is a bit of an unknown on paper, but then again, have nearly half of their players more local to Fort Lauderdale than Philadelphia. What's the connection there?
 
GT: "Eastern is a really good basketball team. I've had a chance to watch them on film and I'm very impressed with their depth and their talent. They have a talented young head coach (Eric McNelley) who was once an assistant coach at Barry University and who was a head coach at a couple of different high schools in South Florida. They have seven or eight players from the South Florida area, so I am sure they are excited to be home and to play in front of their families. They are one of the best shooting teams we will face all year. Their guard play is excellent, and they have some outstanding young big guys. When I watch guys like Anthony Concepcion, Anthony Fernandez, Malcom Garrison and Shaquan Turk, I'm looking at guys who would be very good players in our league. Eastern has a lot of players who have the talent to play in the Sunshine State Conference. They would do well in our league and will be a very tough test for us because of their outstanding guard play and the way they shoot it. We better be ready to play because they will compete for 40 minutes and give us a lot of different defensive looks, some different presses we haven't seen and offensively they can light it up. I enjoy playing tough opponents and Eastern is definitely a tough opponent for us."
 
Q: Looking ahead to the weekend, you'll take on two more regional opponents to wrap up prior to the holiday break. What do you know about Arkansas Tech and Lane?
 
GT: "Arkansas Tech has been in the NCAA tournament for years, and Lane came within a made basket of making the NCAA tourney a year ago. Both teams are very athletic, have excellent athletes and size inside and both are very well-coached. We can't afford to look past Eastern because they are a very talented, high-energy team that plays with great confidence. But Arkansas Tech and Lane will present issues for us in terms of their strength, their interior size and their overall athleticism. You have to play at a high level, with great focus and energy, if you hope to beat either of those teams. It would probably be fun to play a couple of easy games before the holiday break, but our goal is to improve and get better for January and these two teams will definitely challenge you and test your resolve. Win or lose, you are going to get better competing against the caliber of talent that Arkansas Tech and Lane bring to the gym. I love going on the road, especially just before the Christmas break, because it gives us a chance to hang out together as a family for a couple of days and get away from some of the distractions we deal with at home. It's just team and ball and watching games together. I'm sure the guys are all looking forward to going home for a few days and seeing their families, but we still have work to do and we want to finish the semester the right way. We're putting three obstacles in front of our guys this week that will challenge them and force them to give their best efforts.
 
"You can never predict outcomes, but if the guys want to earn respect and make a statement, the opportunities are out there. I've been really pleased with our progress. I know we made a mess of the Thanksgiving trip to Texas, but there were a lot of circumstances surrounding the trip that made the whole weekend a nightmare. I don't think the two games at West Texas were indicative of who we are or how we play and I've sort of dismissed those games from my mind, at least in terms of trying to evaluate us as a team. We dropped a close, tough game on the road at Saint Leo and we didn't execute down the stretch on either end against Rollins, but there was nothing embarrassing about either of those losses. We certainly had chances to win both games. If anything, I came out of those two games more convinced than ever that we're on the right track and we're doing the right things. Hopefully we'll take a step forward this week, play hard and play as well as we can right now, and go into the holiday break feeling positive about the future. We have three really good opponents this week and we just want to play our best, play hard, relax and have some fun. We're inching closer to becoming a very good basketball team, I see it in practice every day. I really believe we're a team that's going to get better and better as the season goes along."