Category: Arts & Culture

Following two more decisive wins, coupled by a Lubbock Christian loss, the Nova Southeastern men’s basketball team now owns the title as the only undefeated NCAA Division II program, as well as the nation’s new top-ranked team after climbing to No. 1 in Tuesday’s release of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) poll.
Earning all 16 first-place votes, this marks the second time the program has reached No. 1 in the national rankings, and first since doing so back in December of 2019.
This past week, the Sharks completed the regular season sweep of previously ranked Barry, earning their second double-digit victory against the Buccaneers, before cruising to a 115-58 rout on the road at Florida Tech. The pair of wins pushed NSU to 20-0 overall on the year and to 15-0 in the Sunshine State Conference.
Following the 115-point performance, the Sharks have now topped the century mark seven times this season, running their average to 98.7 points per game – second-best in the country. While second in scoring, NSU leads the nation in a handful of statistical categories including assists per game (23.1), scoring margin (+21.3), steals per game (16.2) and turnover margin (+11.2).
NSU currently owns a 3.5-game cushion atop the SSC standings with five regular season games remaining.

Defending national champion Northwest Missouri State bumped up to No. 2 in the poll, with last week’s No. 1 Lubbock Christian dipping to No. 3. West Liberty and UNC Pembroke round out the Top-5.
NSU will hit the road Wednesday to take on Saint Leo before returning home Saturday, Feb. 12 for a matchup with Florida Southern. In conjunction with the new No. 1 ranking, Sharks Athletics will be hosting “Dollar Day” on Saturday for the women’s and men’s basketball doubleheader. This will include $1 tickets, $1 hot dogs, and a chance for all fans to be randomly selected to participate in the money machine promotion! For more information, please call 954-262-1599.
For complete coverage of this week’s action, visit the schedule page on NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Instagram and Twitter at @NSU_MBasketball.

Posted 02/08/22

Following back-to-back tournament wins to wrap up the fall season, head coach Joey Marino and the Nova Southeastern men’s golf team are itching to return to action, with the start of the 2022 spring campaign officially underway Feb. 7 at the Matlock Invitational in Lakeland, Fla.
In all, the Sharks will compete in five regular-season tournaments this spring before teeing it up at the SSC Championship from Apr. 10-12.
NSU started relatively slowly out the gate during the fall, yet led by the play of 2021 Sunshine State Conference Freshman of the Year Javier Calles, closed the first half of the year on fire after cruising to commanding victories at both the Miami Intercollegiate and McDonough Cup. The Sharks won the fall’s final two events by a combined 20 strokes, as Calles picked up a pair of individual titles in the process. In addition to Calles’ success, the Sharks earned contributions from a bevy of players including Jonny Cachon and freshman Josep Serra. Together, the two registered four Top-5 finishes in four tournaments, with Cachon twice finishing runner-up.
After opening the spring at Florida Southern’s Matlock Invitational (Feb. 7-8), NSU will play in the Saint Leo Invitational on Feb. 21-22. To begin the month of March, the Sharks will travel to Melbourne, Fla., for Florida Tech’s Panther Invitational (Mar. 6-8), which will then lead into Valdosta State’s Southeastern Collegiate (Mar. 14-15), held at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club, the site of the NCAA South Super Regional.
NSU is set to round out the regular season at Barry’s Battle at the Shores Apr. 4-5, as postseason play opens up in mid-April in Lakeland, Fla., at the SSC Championship.
The NCAA South Super Regional is scheduled for May 5-7, with the NCAA DII National Championship slated for May 16-20 at TPC Michigan in Detroit.
To view the complete 2022 spring schedule, click here. To stay up to date with the Sharks throughout the season, follow them on Instagram and Twitter at @NSU_MGolf.

Posted 01/14/22

Celina Marquez

Nova Southeastern Men’s and Women’s Swimming finished competition at the Spartan Invitational on Monday, Dec. 20, 2021. The women’s team placed second, recording 963 points, while the Sharks men’s team finished third by scoring 794 points. It was another record setting day for NSU, as Celina Marquez made NSU history once again, breaking the oldest record in the Sunshine State Conference, in the 200-backstroke, which was set by Mary O’Sullivan in 2011.

The Sharks will return to the pool in the new year, competing against Tampa and Indian River on Fri., Jan. 7, 2022.

Posted 12/21/21 

Head coach Matt Watts and the Nova Southeastern men’s soccer team has been predicted to finish third overall in the Sunshine State Conference following the release of the SSC Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
The Sharks were one of just three teams to earn first-place votes – pulling in two – as part of their 72 total points collected in the voting process. Lynn topped the poll with seven first-place tallies and 97 points, while Palm Beach Atlantic was projected runner-up with 90 points and the final two first-place nods. Florida Tech and Tampa rounded out the Top-5.
The COVID-19 pandemic spurned the Sharks from competition in 2020. Still, following three consecutive winning seasons, including a 9-6-3 record in 2019, NSU enters the fall receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches national rankings.
To stay up to date with the Sharks throughout the season, follow them on Instagram and Twitter at @NSU_MSoccer.

Richard Mansell and Ricardo Celia, former golfers on Nova Southeastern Sharks men’s golf team, made their major championship debuts on July 15 at the 149^th Open Championship, the world’s oldest major golf tournament. This year’s Open Championship was held at Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, England.

Celia, a native of Barranquilla, Colombia, arrived at Nova Southeastern as a freshman in the fall of 2010 and graduated following the 2014 spring season as one of the program’s most highly decorated players. He was named to the All-Sunshine State Conference team all four years, including first team honors in both 2012 and 2013. He also finished among the top-3 at each of his four SSC Championships, with a first-place tie as a freshman and a two-stroke victory in 2013. In addition, he earned recognition on three Golf Coaches Association of America All-American teams, the best of which was a first team nod in 2013, when he finished the season ranked No. 3 nationally, as well as a place on the All-Freshman team in 2011. In 2012, he aided the Sharks to the first National Championship in program history, defeating his Chico State opponent in the final round of match play by a single stroke. He earned his spot in this year’s Open as the winner of the 2019 Open de Argentina, waiting an extra year to fulfill his dream because the COVID-19 pandemic cancelled last year’s event.

“It is a dream come true. Playing an event of this caliber is something I will never forget. I feel like I’m in a kind of movie surrounded by the best actors on the planet. The happiness I feel is indescribable,” Celia told PGATour.com. He also played his practice round with six-time major champion Phil Mickelson, who won the event in 2013, and 2020 U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau, adding “I wanted to put some pressure on myself before the first round to experience a little of what the tournament will be like. Playing with two idols like Mickelson and DeChambeau was amazing.”

Mansell, playing 213 miles from his hometown of Staffordshire, England, came to the Sharks as a transfer after a year at fellow NCAA Division II member Newberry College in South Carolina and wasted no time in making a name for himself. Much like Celia before him, Mansell also received a GCAA First Team All-American honor, finished the season with the No. 3 ranking in all of DII, and helped the Sharks to a National Championship, all in his first season with the program in 2015. He would go on to be named to both the All-SSC and All-American teams in all three years, picking up four SSC Golfer of the Week awards along the way. Another top-10 DII finish (No. 9) and individual National Championship run followed in 2016, and in 2017, he represented Team Europe at the 2017 Arnold Palmer Cup and was a finalist for the Jack Nicklaus Division II Player of the Year award. He was named to the 156-player field as a final qualifier from an event held at Notts Golf Club in Nottingham at the end of June.