About 250 Sharks supporters made the trip north from Invercargill to Dunedin on Saturday and greeted the 82-76 victory with boisterous applause.
They had been on their feet since about halftime, cheering every Sharks basket.
Sharks coach Richard Dickel threw his arms in the air and a smile punched its way through where there had previously been angst.
And in the dying moments, with the win secured, American import Mike Helms wound up the 700-strong Otago section of the crowd with some posturing.
There was plenty of emotion in what was the first National Basketball League match between the two sides.
The Sharks were the better team and deserved the competition points.
But the game was a quantum leap forward for the understrength home side and a triumph, of sorts, over adversity.
Key player Antoine Tisby was ruled out with a foot injury.
He has missed the last two games and his future with the franchise now looks uncertain.
When Tisby is on the court, he dominates the proceedings for the Nuggets.
In six matches he has averaged 23.5 points and 10.3 rebounds.
To make matters worse, fellow American import Tyler Amaya had a torrid week.
A vicious assault left him sporting a couple of stitches in the back of his head and nursing a badly bruised face.
He had barely recovered from the attack when he was laid low with a fever which threatened to drain what remained of his energy.
Courageously, he took to the court and had a superb first half.
He faded as the match went on but you could not fault his effort.
He scored a game-high 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Some of the Nuggets look barely old enough to be out past 10pm on a Saturday night without permission.
But with the absence of Tisby, and with the challenges facing Amaya, the "Baby Nuggets" stepped up and outperformed their more experienced opponents for large chunks of the game.
Captain and point guard Sam To'omata played like he was a foot taller and 20kg heavier, scoring 15 of his 17 points in the first half.
Back-up point guard James Ross set a scorching tempo when he was on the court, guard Riki Buckrell demonstrated touches of genuine class, forward Tom Rowe had his best night in the Otago singlet and Matt Trueman was a tireless workhorse.
Former Tall Black and Nuggets stalwart Andrew Parke answered a call to arms and played his first minutes for the franchise since 2003, and veteran shooting guard Matt Gillan scored some crucial baskets.
It was an inspired performance and it might have been enough had the Nuggets not fallen away in the third spell.
With Otago leading 49-38 at halftime, the Sharks went on a 17-5 run to recapture the lead.
They pressured the home side with a full court press and the Nuggets were slow to react.
Otago could not buy a basket and turned the ball over eight times in a damaging seven-minute period before coach Alf Arlidge called a time-out.
After the match, the rookie coach said he should have acted sooner to break the visitors' momentum.
"It was probably my mistake," he conceded.
"I should have called a time-out.
"But the way that I coach is sometimes you have to let these guys go and learn themselves how to get through.
"Still, we missed about three or four easy three-foot shots. If you make those, the roll can go the other way."
The Nuggets were outscored 24-6 in the third quarter and went into the final 10min trailing 62-55.
The Sharks led by as much as 11 but Otago rallied and closed to within two points.
But with time running out, the Nuggets were forced to foul and Daniel Munday drilled three of his four shots from the free-throw line to seal the win.
Import Rene Rougeau was a standout performer for the Sharks with 22 points and 13 rebounds.
Fellow import Helms produced a mixed bag in his first game for the franchise with 19 points.
Highly touted centre Martin Iti was all knees and elbows, and experienced point guard Luke Martin made some delightful passes but produced an otherwise lacklustre display.
Former Nugget Ian Cathcart hustled well and back-up centre Gareth Dawson was solid rather than impressive.
In other matches, the Harbour Heat followed its 94-82 win against the Hawkes Bay Hawks with a dramatic 123-120 win over the Manawatu Jets in double overtime.
The Nelson Giants were too strong for the Christchurch Cougars in Nelson on Saturday night, winning 92-81.
On Friday night, the Wellington Saints thrashed the Cougars 97-73.
