FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Troy Spears' three-point attempt with two seconds remaining drifted off the mark before Tampa salted the ball game away at the free throw line to hold off Nova Southeastern 70-65 Wednesday night at Rick Case Arena.

The Sharks grabbed the lead with 8:20 to play, their first since the 16:18 mark of the first half, yet struggled to come up with enough big shots down the stretch as they now drop to 5-13 overall on the season and 2-9 in the Sunshine State Conference.

"I thought we did a great job defensively once more," said head coach Gary Tuell. "That shows you our kids are locked in, still giving great effort. However, when you fail to execute, especially down the stretch, you get beat. That's what happened to this team tonight and seems to happen over and over again."

Dwayne Gibson tallied 12 of his team-high 17 points in the second half to keep Nova Southeastern toe-to-toe with the Spartans, while Gerard Tarin notched his sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Leading scorer Harrison Goodrick managed 10 points and eight boards in the effort, but never truly found his rhythm after dealing with foul trouble throughout much of the night.

A 6-0 spurt by Tampa helped the Spartans grow their advantage to 26-19 with 7:20 left in the opening period. The Sharks' deficit soon ballooned to as many as nine following a dunk by Tampa's Mekhi Biffle. However, Pat Huffine hit Gibson in stride for a two-handed flush of his own to bring Nova Southeastern back to within three until both sides entered the halftime locker room with the Spartans ahead 38-32.

The Sharks limited the Spartans to just 3-of-16 shooting from deep in the opening 20 minutes, but hindered themselves by committing 13 first-half turnovers that resulted in 12 points for the visitors.

Nova Southeastern trailed only 43-41 following a fast-break lay-up from Goodrick with 14:40 to go in regulation. That margin remained the same midway through the half thanks to a strong drive by Gibson before Huffine knotted the score at 50-50 after hitting a pair of free throws the next time down the floor.

Gibson put the Sharks in front moments later and kept them within one possession with 1:09 to go, but game-tying looks from beyond the arc in crunch time by Spears and Nikita Orap missed as Tampa managed to maintain its hold on third place in the SSC now with a league record of 7-4.

NSU will hit the road on Saturday when it continues league play at Florida Southern. For complete coverage of the action, log onto NSUSharks.com or follow the Sharks on Twitter @NSU_MBasketball.