FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Eastern Men's Basketball held a nine-point edge with two minutes to play, but could not hold off a late charge from the host Sharks of Nova Southeastern. The Eagles gave their NCAA Division II hosts all they could handle before falling 81-70 in overtime.

"I know we are talented, and that's apparent with how the game went," said Head Coach Eric McNelley. "We were in control of the game and had control of it late with a four-point lead. But I also learned we are young." The Sharks ended regulation on a 9-0 run, but the Eagles had a look at the buzzer roll off the front of the rim.

With just over six minutes left to play in the game Eastern (5-4) held a 60-49, lead. The Sharks closed the gap to 62-57 before Abraham Kurnick knocked down a pair of free throws and Anthony Concepcion made his way through traffic and converted a baseline lay-up in traffic.

"We had an 11 point lead at one point," continued McNelley. "We had accomplished what we wanted to offensively and defensively but we need to learn how to execute and close out games. At the end of the day, that's a division two team out there, and they took the game from us, we didn't give it to them, they took it."

"You don't give things away," McNelley went on to say. "You take opportunities, and we had an opportunity and we didn't take it. We'll learn from it and let's see what we do Friday and Saturday."

The Sharks opened the overtime period on a 5-0 run to jump out to a 71-66 lead in the first 42 seconds. Concepcion hit one out of two free throws to cut the deficit to just four before Nova went on a 6-0 run to put the game out of reach.

Eleven different Eastern players scored in the game. Austin James led the Eagles with 11 points and nine rebounds. Malcolm Garrison scored ten points. Garrison and Shaquan Turk were the only two Eagles to score in the game that have more than 33 games in the program under their belts. Eight of the players who saw action in tonight's game came to Eastern from South Florida.

"It definitely was a total team effort," said McNelley. "We preach it all the time pass up a good shot for a great shot, and we did that tonight. Play smart basketball."

Dwayne Gibson led four Sharks in double-figures with 16 points

Eastern will host the Hoop MIA D3 Shootout starting Friday and face Gwynedd Mercy University at 7 pm.

"They have no choice but to turn it around. The season doesn't live or die with one game," concluded McNelley. "We have to turn it around and use it for what it is, a learning experience and get ready to play a tough regional game."