Box Score FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University men's basketball team (9-10, 5-5 SSC) evened the season series against the Eckerd Tritons (11-9, 4-6 SSC) Wednesday with a 64-59 home victory.
Brian Cahill (Sr., Arlington, Va.) and
Harrison Goodrick (So., Sydney, Australia) each scored 14 points to lead the Sharks. Goodrick shot 5-for-7 and pulled down nine rebounds. Cahill shot 5-for-9 and 4-for-8 from 3-point range, while making five steals.
Stian Berg (Sr., Baerum, Norway) totaled a career-high tying seven assists.
"Hats off to Eckerd, they came in here undermanned and played one of the best games they've played against us in my 11 years here, based off the fact that they were missing some key people," stated head coach Gary Tuell. "The kids that did play played so hard, their defense was terrific, they controlled the game and probably deserved to win it. You have to appreciate their effort, I applaud those guys.
"We were very fortunate to come out of this with a win, it was anything but our best effort. I thought we were ready to play, we had our best practice of the year yesterday. All I can do is contribute it to the fact that their defense was better than our offense. They did a great job and made it really, really tough. One of the nice things about this win is that when you don't play well and you still get a victory, it is especially cherished. Usually if you don't play well, you don't get a victory in this league. But I'm happy and proud of our guys for hanging in there and finding a way to get it done."
The Sharks jumped out to a 5-0 lead, but a trio of Eckerd 3-pointers prevented NSU from dominating the early part of the first half. Much like the rest of the contest, the two teams shot at a solid clip and battled to within five points of each other until there was three minutes left in the first half.
At the 2:55 mark,
Justin Jeangerard (Sr., Weaverville, Calif.) pulled down a rebound and immediately pushed the tempo, allowing
Chris Page (Jr., Plainfield, Ind.) to knock down a transition 3-pointer to put NSU up, 32-26. NSU controlled the rest of the period and led at halftime, 36-31.
Both teams shot the ball well in the first half, with NSU knocking down 11 of 25 shots and Eckerd making 10 of 23. However, NSU made four more free throws than the Tritons and had 13 points off turnovers to Eckerd's zero.
Eckerd came out hot in the second half and flipped the score on the Sharks. The Tritons outscored NSU 16-6 over the first seven minutes of the second half and led 47-42, their largest lead of the game. Cahill immediately answered with a 3-pointer from a cutting
Troy Spears (Fr., Martinsville, Ind.) to keep NSU in the contest.
Eckerd briefly led by four points, but until the final minute, the two teams played within a possession of each other. The contest would come down to the wire, tied at 59 with a minute remaining. On the ensuing possession, Cahill found Maurice Fuller on the right corner, and the senior knocked down a 3-pointer that would prove to be the difference.
Down three points, Eckerd looked for two in the paint, but Goodrick came up with his second block of the game on Malcolm Brunner Jr. Cahill secured the loose ball before
Mike Chalas (Jr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) made two clutch free throws on a 1-and-1 to seal the game.
"I thought Harrison Goodrick really had a big game for us," Tuell said. "He had some big rebounds and the blocked shot at the end was really big. I thought Brian Cahill hit some huge 3's for us when we were really struggling to score in the second half. He really gave us a lift and gave us hope. Maurice Fuller's 3… that was the game. I'm so proud of him and glad for him as a senior. It was great to see two seniors refuse to lose this game and make big shots for us."
NSU shot 45.5 percent (20-for-44) from the floor and 38.2 percent (13-for-34) from 3-point range. The Sharks were outrebounded, 32-19, but scored 28 points on 19 Eckerd turnovers. Page and Jeangerard finished with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Fuller finished with eight point, while Chalas scored five.
"We got the W and we are back to .500 in the league," Tuell said. "Now its time to play the three Amigos, No. 1 (Barry), No. 2 (Florida Southern) and No. 3 (Lynn) in the league. We've got our hands full in the next three games. We'll have to go out and play as hard as we can and pull off an upset somewhere along the way."
The Sharks will hit the road this Saturday to face the second ranked team in the nation, Florida Southern, at 7:30 p.m.
