FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Although bittersweet, Nova Southeastern saved perhaps its best performance of the season Saturday evening as it sent off head coach Gary Tuell and its three seniors with an emotional 80-70 victory over Saint Leo in the regular season home finale.
The year has been summed up by plenty of up-and-downs, but the Sharks' continuous fight has still yet to waver and finally paid off thanks to a complete team effort against the Lions.
"This was a great day for us," said Tuell following his final game at the Rick Case Arena in his 13 seasons at Nova Southeastern. "Our three seniors have incredible character and class, and to be able to celebrate their last home game with a victory is really special."
Goodrick finished the ball game right around his season average with 18 points and nine rebounds, while Back sparked the offense early with a three-pointer before Farrell put the exclamation point on the win with a thunderous slam over a Saint Leo defender.
Dwayne Gibson reeled off 24 points, his fifth 20-plus point performance in the last six games, to go along with 10 points from freshman Carl Alenfall off the bench.
The Sharks never trailed throughout the first half, and used one of Gibson's five treys in the contest to take a 39-35 advantage into the locker room.
Saint Leo eventually grabbed its first lead of the night with 17:02 to play, but rather than give in, Nova Southeastern displayed some inspiring toughness in front of the home crowd.
Troy Spears capped an 11-3 run with a lay-in midway through the half before the Sharks expanded the cushion to as many as 13 points down the stretch to seal the deal.
While adding a 'W' to the win column put a smile on Tuell's face, he insisted that seeing his guys – both current and former- come together in the locker room meant more than anything.
"It meant a lot," he said. "It touched my heart and brought me to tears in the locker room after the game, seeing a bunch of guys who have played for me over the years here tonight. It was a great day for our program, a great day to be a Shark. It's been a joy to be able to coach all these guys. It's been a real blessing for me in my life."
The NSU defense limited Saint Leo to just 38.3 percent shooting in the ball game, the 12th time this season the Sharks have held an opponent below 40 percent from the field.
NSU will cap its regular season on the road Wednesday at Lynn. For complete coverage of the action, log onto NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_MBasketball.
