Box Score TAMPA, Fla. – Nova Southeastern trailed by only five points on the road against NCAA Division I South Florida with 34 seconds remaining, but unfortunately ran out of time as the Bulls held off the Sharks 72-64 in Monday's exhibition game at the Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida.
 
Senior Harrison Goodrick led the way for the Sharks with a monster 25-point, 12-rebound effort, while Lukas Landgren chipped in with 13 points on 3-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc in his Nova Southeastern debut. However, the Sharks had no answer for Tulio Da Silva and the Bulls inside for much of the night. South Florida tallied 42 points in the paint, receiving 26 points and 16 boards from Da Silva along the way.  
 
Things looked bleak midway through the first half following a rough offensive start for the Sharks. Despite a pair of three-point buckets from Landgren right out the gate, Nova Southeastern dug themselves into a deficit as deep as 19 points in the first half following a 3-for-18 shooting display to open the contest. Yet, just as it appeared South Florida would run away comfortably, Goodrick propelled a much-needed 13-3 spurt in the final 2:52 before halftime to pull Nova Southeastern back to within single digits at the break.
 
Still hanging around nearly seven minutes into the second half, Landgren drained his third triple of the night on an assist from point guard BJ Edwards to cut the deficit to just 54-46 with 13:10 left in regulation.
 
Ensuing turnovers on three consecutive possessions resulted in dunks from Da Silva and a three-pointer by Michael Bibby that would ultimately allow the Bulls to stretch their cushion back out to 64-52. Still, the Sharks stiffened and forced their way back to within striking distance.
 
Seven straight points by Goodrick, including a timely old-fashioned three-point play, closed the gap to 64-59 with 3:17 remaining. That margin stayed true following a Landgren free throw with less than one minute, but South Florida managed to ice the game from the charity stripe and escaped with the eight-point win.
 
NSU won the battle from the free throw line in the effort, converting 21-of-34 attempts as opposed to 14-of-24 shooting by the Bulls.
 
Head coach Gary Tuell and company will tip-off the regular season portion of its schedule at home this Friday against St. Thomas (Fla.). For complete coverage of the action, follow along on Twitter at @NSU_MBasketball and by clicking on the provided links on the schedule page.