Down goes No. 1! The DII men’s basketball defending champions and No. 1-seeded Nova Southeastern had been upset within the nationwide semifinals by No. 5 Lander. The Bearcats are heading to their first-ever nationwide championship game in program historical past after silencing the potent Shark assault.
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It wasn’t merely a win. The Bearcats dominated the Sharks from begin to end. They held the lead for 32 of the 40 minutes and confirmed no concern of their offensive and defensive assault towards the DII men’s basketball superpower, winning by 10 points, 91-81.
Defense wins championships
Lander was the No. 2 seed within the Southeast Region. The Bearcats superior to the DII Men’s Elite Eight by completely smothering a Lenoir-Rhyne offense that was No. 7 in DII in scoring at 89.5 factors per game by holding the Bears to simply 62 factors. That set the tone for what Lander would do within the subsequent two rounds.
Lander upset No. 4 Daemen by holding the Wildcats to simply 74 factors. The Bearcats adopted that up by gorgeous the most effective crew in DII men’s basketball and holding them to simply 81 factors. The Sharks rating 99.4 factors per game and, minus a brief burst to tie it roughly midway via the second hald, by no means discovered a rhythm. Lander had the seventh-best field-goal share protection, holding groups to 39.5 % taking pictures, and it confirmed on this game. The Bearcats held Nova Southeastern to simply 32.6 % taking pictures and 2-for-16 from 3-point land. It was the Sharks’ worst taking pictures efficiency of the season by a good margin and the fewest 3-pointers they hit all yr.
High-energy Bearcat assault
The Bearcats had been bodily in each side of the game. Usually, Nova Southeastern’s full-court game plan, urgent for a lot of the game, takes a crew out of their rhythm. It wears them down and plenty of instances, leaves them wanting the basket, permitting Nova Southeastern to win in lopsided style.
The Bearcats weren’t afraid of the strain, and stored their power excessive in a extremely bodily game. They led by as many as 15, and Nova Southeastern impressively fought again to tie it. However, in what appeared like a blink of an eye fixed, Lander jumped again out to a seven level lead and by no means relinquished the lead once more.
While Nova Southeastern, top-of-the-line rebounding groups in DII, gained the battle of the boards, Lander restricted the second likelihood factors. So, with the poor taking pictures night time, the Sharks weren’t ready to constantly capitalize on their misses, regardless of the sting in rebounding. The Bearcats appeared to gradual the game down and by no means let the Sharks get snug of their high-octane assault unfold.
Stars shine brilliant
Greyson Pritzl has been one of many huge causes for Lander’s event success. The sharpshooting guard has hit not less than 4 3-pointers in five-straight event video games. Pritzl had arguably his finest game but, scoring 25 factors, whereas going 5-for-10 from 3, grabbing eight rebounds and hitting all 4 key free throws.
Dylan Canoville, who is not even an everyday starter, offered fairly the spark in his 25 minutes. In reality, you would argue two of the most important video games of Canoville’s season had been towards Lenoir-Rhyne to win the Southeast Region and within the upset of Nova Southeastern. He hit 9-of-16 pictures, double-doubling with 18 factors and 11 rebounds.
Jacob Daniels, the Bearcats’ freshman sensation, additionally had an enormous game, scoring 17, however everybody contributed for the Bearcats. Bobby Crawford Jr. had 10 factors, Navaughn Maise had 12 huge rebounds and Antewan Webber Jr. added 11 factors. The depth of firepower that got here to play allowed the Bearcats to keep recent and sustain the extreme power all game.
On the other aspect, DII participant of the yr Dallas Graziani closed out his spectacular profession — which incorporates two nationwide championships — with 15 factors and 7 assists. Jaxon Nap had a monster double-double with 17 factors and 20 rebounds, as 5 Sharks scored in double figures. It merely wasn’t sufficient in one of many greatest upsets within the DII Men’s Elite Eight in latest historical past.
