FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – With Sunshine State Conference play already upon them less than one week into the 2016-17 campaign, the Nova Southeastern Sharks will look to shake their season-opening loss with a strong start in league competition when they host Palm Beach Atlantic Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.
 
The Sharks swept the season series with the Sailfish by an average margin of 10 points per game a year ago, and would certainly like to continue that trend in order to gain early momentum in the rugged SSC. Senior Harrison Goodrick had his way against Palm Beach Atlantic in 2015-16, posting averages of 18.5 points and 9.0 rebounds in both meetings, and will be much-needed once again after a modest effort in last Friday's 71-65 defeat versus St. Thomas (Fla.).
 
A 56.7%-shooting performance in the first half lifted the Sharks to a double-digit cushion at the break, but struggled to an 8-for-23 effort from the field in the second half before relinquishing their lead for good in the final 2:37 of the contest. Despite the loss, newcomer Gerard "Junior" Tarin provided a bright spot for Nova Southeastern by recording game-highs with 22 points and 10 rebounds on 10-of-14 shooting, including a handful of thunderous dunks in the early going.
 
Palm Beach Atlantic, meanwhile, enters Wednesday fresh off a 68-49 triumph over Tuskegee in its regular season debut. The Sailfish struggled to find its shooting touch in the first half, but managed 23 free throw attempts in the opening 20 minutes and transformed a whopping 24 turnovers into 23 points in the ball game.
 
The scoring leader on last year's squad as a freshman, sophomore guard Bakari Warthen picked up right where he left with 18 points, nine boards and four steals in Palm Beach Atlantic's opening win. In addition, the Sailfish may have found an added dimension to their offense by the name of De'Ondre Jackson. A redshirt-freshman by way of Kentucky State, Jackson notched a game-high 21 points in just 22 minutes of action in his first appearance with Palm Beach Atlantic.
 
Nova Southeastern drained 15 three-pointers en route to a 98-79 victory the last time both programs faced off at NSU Arena back on December 2, 2015.
 
For complete coverage of Wednesday's action, follow along on Twitter at @NSU_MBasketball and by clicking on the provided links on the schedule page.