SAINT LEO, Fla. – Saint Leo's Marcus Dewberry drained a midrange jumper with 11.3 seconds remaining in regulation to turn away Nova Southeastern 62-61 Wednesday night at the Bowman Center.
BJ Edwards paced three Sharks in double-figures with 14 points and converted a pair of free throws with 27.7 seconds left to give Nova Southeastern a slight one-point advantage, but Dewberry cashed in with two of his game-high 23 points in crunch time to drop the Sharks to 1-5 in the Sunshine State Conference and 4-9 overall.
Dwayne Gibson and Harrison Goodrick chipped in with 11 points apiece in the effort to go along with eight points from both Nikita Orap and Troy Spears. Meanwhile, a stout defensive performance by the Sharks forced 19 turnovers and limited the Lions 40.4 percent shooting from the field.
The ball game opened up in a defensive slugfest, with neither side able to consistently get loose for free looks at the bucket. Following two Goodrick free throws, though, the Sharks grabbed their first lead of the night at 12-10 with 8:59 left in the first half.
Still, despite holding Saint Leo to 32 percent from the field, Dewberry and second-leading scorer Justin Satchell combined for 23 of the Lions' 31 points in the first half as the home team entered the break in front 31-28.
After tallying the first five points of the second half, Saint Leo appeared as if it may grab control of the contest. However, Edwards capped a 10-0 spurt with his lone three-pointer of the night to help the Sharks regain a two-point cushion at the 14:48 mark.
Both clubs eventually traded leads 10 times after halftime, but Saint Leo got the last laugh after the DII Bulletin Preseason All-American showed up when his team needed him most.
Satchell finished with 15 points for the Lions, however, was held to just three points in the second half following four three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.
The Sharks will continue their SSC slate when they welcome Florida Southern to NSU Arena this Saturday at 4 p.m. ET. For complete coverage of the action, follow along on Twitter at @NSU_MBasketball and by clicking on the provided links on the schedule page.
