FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Nova Southeastern opened up a 13-point lead in the first half before holding on down the stretch en route to a 63-56 victory over Sunshine State Conference opponent Rollins Wednesday night at NSU Arena.
 
The wins snaps a four-game losing skid for the Sharks as head coach Gary Tuell's club now improves to 5-10 overall, and 2-6 in the league. Meanwhile, Rollins drops to 8-8 on the season and 2-5 in the SSC.
 
Despite having just six scholarship players available due to injury, Nova Southeastern leaned on its usual cogs in Harrison Goodrick and Troy Spears in the effort. Goodrick registered a game-high 18 points to go along with eight rebounds, whereas Spears followed up his career-high 24 points from last Saturday with a strong 17-point performance in the 'W' on Wednesday. In addition, Nikita Orap filled in admirably in just his second start of the year by notching 12 points and four assists in 33 minutes of action.
 
"We had a really thin bench tonight," said Tuell. "We had to adjust our lineup and play some guys in different spots. I thought they did a great job. Our defense was exceptional in the first half, and our kids really finished the game on a strong note."
 
Leading 11-10 near the midway point of the first half, Spears responded out of a timeout by drilling one of his five three-point field goals on the night to stretch the cushion to four in favor of the Sharks. On the ensuing possession, the junior connected once again in transition to grow the advantage to seven, forcing the Tars to call a timeout of their own.
 
An Orap triple furthered the margin to double-digits for the first time in the ball game with 7:20 to go in the opening period. Nova Southeastern's lead dwindled back to single-digits in the final minute of the half until Goodrick converted a trey from the wing as time expired to put the Sharks back up 34-22 heading into intermission.
 
Nova Southeastern limited Rollins to just 28 percent shooting from the field in the first half. However, the Tars returned from the locker room and ran off the first eight points after halftime. Trailing by only one possession, Rollins' Nils Lehmann would further cut into the Sharks' advantage by closing the gap to 36-35 with 15:40 showing on the clock.
 
The contest remained a one-possession ball game until Spears nailed another three-point bucket from the corner on a touch pass from Goodrick. With a little breathing room, the Sharks' confidence began to show once again and quickly expanded their lead from six back out to a dozen following a transition lay-in by Gerard Tarin with 5:35 left.
 
Tarin finished the night with nine points and a game-high 13 rebounds, and now ranks fourth in the SSC in rebounding with 8.5 boards per game.
 
The 56 points allowed by the Sharks on Wednesday marked the fewest given up in a league contest since beating Rollins 55-53 back on January 14, 2015.
 
NSU will have the weekend off before returning to the court next Wednesday on the road at Eckerd. For complete coverage of the action, visit NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter at @NSU_MBasketball.