It has been a while since the Nansemond-Suffolk Academy boys’ basketball team has experienced victory over Norfolk Christian School, but commitment to defense in the second half helped the Saints pull away for a 54-29 win on Thursday.

“We were pleased again with our performance,” said NSA coach Chris Prince, as the Saints have put together back-to-back impressive wins during a demanding stretch of four games in less than a week’s time.

Prince had Nansemond-Suffolk’s director of boys’ athletics T.W. Johnson researching when the Saints had last defeated the Ambassadors.

“It was a good step in the right direction for our program,” the coach said of the win.

The game was close for a while, with the Saints holding onto a 19-17 halftime lead.

“We asked them to play with more grit and determination in the second half,” Prince said. “We knew it was going to come down to who wanted the game the most.”

NSA proceeded to hold Norfolk Christian to six points in the third quarter.

“We just bought in on the defensive end in the second half,” Prince said.

Saints star senior C.J. Patterson played a fair amount on Thursday after injuring his ankle in Tuesday’s game but served as more of a facilitator against the Ambassadors, scoring only one point.

“He only took about four shots,” Prince said after also noting Patterson did a good job on the boards.

Patterson has been limited in both games this week, but Prince was glad to see Nansemond-Suffolk still win both contests pretty easily.

“That’s a good sign that the rest of our team is coming around,” the coach said. “We’ve got more than one option.”

Junior Matthew Shiembob made this apparent when he came off the bench to score all of his game-high 15 points in the second half.

“He’s definitely the kind of shooter than can go on a hot streak, and he did that in the second half,” Prince said.

Senior Keith Cooper helped assert his team’s notable height advantage, recording the first double-double of his NSA varsity basketball career with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

Junior Logan Lokie also added 12 points for the Saints.

“Logan again carried us offensively in the first half,” Prince said, alluding to Lokie’s similar role on Tuesday against Denbigh Baptist Christian School.

Nansemond-Suffolk had fallen to 1-4 earlier this season, but Thursday’s win has it on a 4-1 run since, restoring its overall record to .500.

“I know the kids are excited about it,” Prince said.

The Saints (5-5) host Portsmouth Christian School tonight at 6 p.m. and visit Collegiate School in Richmond on Monday with tip-off scheduled for 5:30 p.m.