MIAMI SHORES, Fla. – Nova Southeastern pushed the ninth-ranked team in the nation to the brink Wednesday night, but Barry made all the necessary plays down the stretch as the Buccaneers survived the Sharks for a 79-73 victory in Sunshine State Conference play.
Harrison Goodrick had his way from start to finish en route to a season-high 28 points on a near-perfect 11-of-12 from the field, while Dwayne Gibson followed up last Sunday's career effort with 16 points. However, after leading 34-30 at the break, Nova Southeastern yielded 49 points to the Bucs in the second half, with 20 of those coming by way of the free throw line.
Point guard Elvar Fridriksson, known more as a distributor, took control of the scoring for a Barry squad that was limited to just 23.3 percent shooting in the opening 20 minutes. The all-conference player from a year ago filled up the bucket with 18 of his team-high 23 points in the second half to keep the Bucs perfect on the season.
A gritty defensive effort along with the bruising inside play from Goodrick kept the home crowd quiet in the early going as the Australian recorded a quick seven points to help the Sharks jump out to an 11-5 edge less than seven minutes into the contest.
The style of play continued to give Barry fits, and at the 4:27 mark of the first half, BJ Edwards found a streaking Gerard Tarin for a pretty, fast break lay-up to keep the lead at seven.
Despite Barry's massive struggles offensively, including leading scorer Adrian Gonzalez being held to a minimal two points, Nova Southeastern's cushion sat at only four heading into intermission.
As one might expect from the league's highest-scoring offense, the Bucs managed to find a bit more of a shooting stroke after halftime and gained their first advantage since 5-4 following three consecutive triples by Daniel Mortensen.
Back and forth both sides went as the second half features nine ties and five lead changes. A Gibson jumper built the Sharks lead to four with 5:56 to play, yet an ensuing 11 straight points by Barry shifted the momentum before the Bucs held on the rest of the way.
"Give their guys credit," said Nova Southeastern head coach Gary Tuell. "They made some shots and played well in the second half. They're a heck of a team. We didn't shoot it very well from three, but our effort was superb. I thought our guys played their behinds off."
SSC competition will continue this Saturday at 4 p.m. ET when NSU hits the road to face Florida Tech. For complete coverage of the action, log onto NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_MBasketball.
