FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – As a crowning point for Nova Southeastern Homecoming 2018, the men's basketball season kicks off its campaign on Friday night in the "Shark Tank" at Rick Case Arena, hosting a non-conference matchup against the Claflin Panthers out of South Carolina.
 
Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. with the Panthers, who were a regional foe last season as first-ever champions of the SIAC with a program-best 26-7 record (14-5 SIAC) before moving to the Atlantic Region and the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) for the upcoming 2018-19 slate. CU earned entry into the NCAA Regional and defeated Clark Atlanta before bowing out on an 89-64 loss to Sunshine State Conference foe Barry in the second round.
 
The Panthers lose three starters, Jaleel Charles, Benjamin "Tre" Williams and Timothy Christian II, who combined to average 33.8 points and 15.6 rebounds per game, but retain the services of starters senior guard Triston Thompson and graduate student center Austin Lawton. Thompson scored 9.5 points on average, leading the team with 2.7 assists and 1.8 steals per game. At 6-9, Lawton scored 9.3 ppg with 5.5 rpg, pacing the Panthers with a 1.9 block average to rank 28th in the NCAA. Entering his sixth season at the helm, Ricky Jackson's Panthers have averaged over 70 ppg each of the last four seasons and ranked 16th in the nation (66.2 opposing ppg) defensively, thanks to a third-ranked 39.6 percent field goal defense.
 
Nova Southeastern was picked No. 8 in the nation in the D2 Bulletin preseason poll after an amazing Sharks debut season under first-year head coach Jim Crutchfield, earning an NCAA program-best 17-11 record. The Sharks racked up 90.1 ppg en route to the nation's fifth-best scoring offense – fueled by the NCAA's fourth-best steals per outing at 10.2 on average. After losing recent NBA G-League (Sioux Falls Skyforce) roster addition Gerard Tarin to graduation and Malik Hardy in a transfer to DI Florida Gulf Coast, the Sharks retain the efforts of starters senior point guard David Dennis, sophomore guard Nick Smith and senior forward Dwayne Gibson. Dennis was a D2CCA All-South Region selection and the SSC Newcomer of the Year, scoring 19.2 ppg, while ranking second in the NCAA with an SSC-high 3.56 steal average and 10th nationally 6.8 assists per game. Dennis ranks second among national returning steals leaders and fourth among returning assists leaders. Smith debuted with 13.2 ppg and 5.3 rpg, shooting 49.2 percent from the floor, while Gibson put up 10.8 ppg and 4.3 rpg.
 
Live stats can be found HERE and fans can watch NSU's live video on SunshineStateConference.tv with David Halberstam on the call.