FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern University men's basketball team overcame an 11-point deficit late in the second half to force overtime, then outscored their opponents from Eastern University 15-4 in the extra frame to win on Wednesday night at the NSU Arena, 81-70.
 
The Sharks (4-4) trailed the Eagles (5-4), 60-49 with 6:17 left, the first double-digit lead for either team in the game. Though the NSU cut it to five twice over the next two and half minutes, Eastern extended it back out to nine with 2:13 to go, 66-57.
 
Harrison Goodrick's (Jr., Sydney, Australia) layup at 1:57 was the first chip-away at that last deficit. Then, after Goodrick pulled down a rebound after an Eastern miss, Mike Chalas (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) found Dwayne Gibson, Jr. (Fr., Indianapolis, Ind.) for an open 3-pointer from the top of the key.
 
Eastern brought the ball up, but Chalas came away with a steal and found Chris Page (Sr., Plainfield, Ind.) ahead, who was fouled and cut it to two with a pair of free throws at 1:07. Then Page himself drew an offensive foul from Eastern to give the Sharks the ball back yet again.
 
On the ensuing possession, Troy Spears (So., Martinsville, Ind.) found Page all alone underneath, and his layup from the left block with 25 seconds left tied the game. Eastern set up for the last shot, but the Sharks survived an in-and-out 3-pointer at the horn, and the game went to overtime.
 
The OT period was all Sharks from the get-go. Goodrick got a layup to go and was fouled, completing a three-point play just 28 seconds in. Page followed with a close-in shot to give NSU their biggest lead to that point of five, 71-66 with 4:18 left. After some empty possessions on each side, a 1-of-2 trip to the line by Eastern's Anthony Concepcion came at 1:59, but the Sharks scored the next six, and 10 of the next 11, for a 13-point lead. A layup with only 10 seconds left was the only field goal made in extra time by the visitors, giving NSU the home win.
 
All told, from the 11-point deficit until the overtime horn sounded, the Shark defense hounded the Eastern squad into a 2-of-13 shooting line and forced eight turnovers, six in the extra frame. It was a 22-point turnaround in 11:17 worth of gametime.
 
Gibson had a career night, topping the Sharks with career bests of 16 points and nine rebounds. He was 6-of-11 from the field – 5-of-6 inside the arc – while also adding three assists and three steals. Page and Spears each had 14, while Goodrick was the fourth NSU player in double digits, scoring 11 while pulling down eight boards. Spears made his first four 3-pointers of the night, and Page and Goodrick combined for 20 of their 25 points in the second half and overtime.
 
Another sparkplug for the Sharks on the night was sophomore guard Jordan Stookey (Warsaw, Ind.), who came off the bench for 16 minutes, handing out six assists and snagging three rebounds. His 3-pointer with 5:39 to go was the catalyst to start the Shark comeback, coming immediately after Eastern had taken the 11-point lead.

"Thank goodness for Jordan Stookey, Troy Spears and Dwayne Gibson, they came to play," said head coach Gary Tuell. "They gave us great energy and great focus all night. We didn't deserve to win this game; at times, Eastern outplayed us, outhustled us and outcoached us. But after doing mostly nothing for 36 minutes and trying a lot of different people, we finally found a unit that wanted to win the game. I am proud of our guys for refusing to lose on a night when we were not very good. But I am especially proud of Stook, Troy and Dwayne, and I'm grateful I had them on my side." 
 
The Sharks head to Melbourne, Florida for two this weekend, in the Florida Tech Holiday Classic. They'll face off against Arkansas Tech on Friday at 4:30 p.m., and then wrap up their 2015 winter schedule against Lane Saturday, starting at noon.