Box Score ST. LEO, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University men's basketball team fell in their regular season finale, 73-59 to the Saint Leo Lions Saturday at the Bowman Center.
The Sharks (11-15, 6-10 SSC) gave up the first 14 points of the game to the Lions (14-14, 6-10 SSC), who would lead wire-to-wire. NSU cut it to five late in the first half after back-to-back 3-pointers by senior
Brian Cahill (Arlington, Va.), 32-27. However, Saint Leo answered with three straight '3's of their own to push the advantage back out to 14, and held a 13-point lead at halftime, 44-31.
At that point, the Lions were shooting a blistering 60 percent from the field (15-of-25) and were even better from behind the arc, going 10-of-16 for 62.5 percent. Comparatively, NSU shot 36.4 and 29.4 percent, respectively, from those two ranges.
After the break, 3-pointers from the Sharks' side again brought the deficit to single digits early on.
Chris Page (Jr., Plainfield, Ind.) and
Justin Jeangerard (Sr., Weaverville, Calif.) cut it from 13 to seven at the 18:17 mark, 46-39. Again, Saint Leo responded with one of their own at 16:26 for a 49-39 edge.
Almost exactly four minutes later, at 12:29,
Maurice Fuller (Sr., Westfield, Ind.) would knock down his first from long-range, and it was a six-point game, 52-46. Saint Leo came up empty on their next attempt, and the Sharks had the chance to make it a one-possession game, but were unable to knock down an open 3-point attempt. The Lions then scored the next five, and eventually made it a 10-3 run, staying ahead by at least nine points the rest of the way.
"That's not the best way to finish the season or to get ready for the postseason tournament," said NSU head coach Gary Tuell. "I thought we had a lot of guys on Spring Break today. Our effort, especially in the first half, was very disappointing. It was Senior Day for Saint Leo, and we let their seniors have a party in the first 20 minutes at our expense. It's been a long time since we played with less energy or effort than we played with today.
As poorly as we played, we had multiple opportunities to make a run in the second half. But we didn't do the things that were necessary, whether it was blocking out, stopping dribble penetration, or closing out on shooters. It's been a long time since I've been this disappointed in this team, and hopefully this is not indicative of where we'll be Friday night."
Page led NSU with 16 points, while Cahill had 11.
Harrison Goodrick (So., Sydney, Australia) and Jeangerard each chipped in with eight points, with Jeangerard adding five rebounds and five assists, both team highs.
"Our seniors need to take a hard look at this film and ask themselves if that's how they want to play in the first round of the tournament, because if they do, we won't be around very long," said Tuell. "I thought Brian Cahill really played hard and gave us a good effort, and I thought Harrison (Goodrick) battled for as long as he could. But it takes more than two guys to win a game, especially on the road in this league."Ron Foxx had the Saint Leo high among five double-digit scorers with 17. The Lions took the victory despite the NSU defense holding them to 27.3 percent shooting in the second half.
"I'd like to find something good to say, something positive, but this is one of those days where there isn't much to smile about," said Tuell. "Maybe it will be good for us in the long run, maybe it will wake some guys up. Tampa is playing as well as anybody in the league right now, and for us to advance in the tournament, we'll need to bring our best effort on Friday night."The Sharks will open up play during the SSC Championship quarterfinal round as the conference's No. 6 seed. They will those face third-seeded Tampa Spartans, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday at the Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida.
