Author: truex

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – For the first-time in program history, the No. 1 Nova Southeastern Sharks Men’s Basketball team will play for the NCAA Division II National Championship. NSU defeated fourth-seed Cal. State San Bernardino 94-87 on Thursday evening from the Ford Center. All five starters for the Sharks scored in double-digits, including Kobe Rodgers led the Sharks to the victory scoring 21 points.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Records – No. 1 Nova Southeastern 35-0 |No. 4 Cal. State San Bernardino 31-4
Score – No. 1 Nova Southeastern 94 | No. 4 Cal. State San Bernardino 87
Location – Ford Center | Evansville, Ind.
Get Social – Instagram & Twitter – NSU_MBasketball | Facebook – NSU Men’s Basketball

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half – The Sharks faced a slight deficit but Kobe Rodgers tied the game at 5-5, finishing a tough lay-up and converting an and-one opportunity. Jake Maranville knocked down a three-pointer, putting NSU in front 8-7 over the Yotes. Maranville’s three started a 17-2 run for NSU, putting the Sharks ahead 22-9, and featured five-points from Jonathan Pierre. Later in the half, Pierre and Yoakum each knocked down a three-pointer, extending NSU’s advantage to 33-19. CSUSB, despite facing a double-digit deficit, continued to battle back and sent the game into halftime break with the Sharks leading 48-43.

Second Half – Pierre and Yoakum combined to hit three-three-pointers to open the second half, extending the Nova Southeastern lead to 57-43. A few moments later, a steal by Yoakum set up a scoring opportunity for Ryan Davis. The freshman finished the layup, giving Nova Southeastern a 61-48 lead. The Yotes cut the Sharks lead to just three points, 63-60, with 13 minutes remaining in the contest. Rodgers, in an extremely gutsy performance, recorded six consecutive points for NSU, extending the Sharks lead to 77-69. The next five minutes of the contest saw both teams taking free throws, including RJ Sunahara putting NSU ahead 84-79 with just over a minute remaining. Rodgers found Sunahara, who threw down an emphatic dunk, putting the finishing touches on the Sharks victory. Nova Southeastern closed out the win with Lukas Speidel hitting a pair of free throws, as NSU advanced to the National Championship with a 94-87 victory.

STATS OF THE NIGHT
– This is the first time in Division II history that the top two scoring teams in the nation will face off in a championship game.
– This will be just the second time in Division II history that the top scoring team will play in the championship game (West Liberty in 2014 was the other).
– It will be the sixth time in seven tournaments since the reseeding began that the #1 seed will be in the championship game. 
– Crutchfield is the 3^rd coach to take two different schools to the championship. (Ron Shumate, SEMO and Chattanooga; Bill Jones, Jacksonville St. and North Alabama)
 
UPCOMING
No. 1 Nova Southeastern, in a storybook fashion, will take on No. 2 West Liberty in the NCAA Division II National Championship game on Saturday, March 25. Tip-off of the title tilt will be at 3 p.m. ET on CBS.
 

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The road to the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball National Championship continues for No. 1 Nova Southeastern. The top-ranked Sharks will take on fourth-seeded Cal. State San Bernardino on Thursday evening from the Ford Center. The matchup features the two programs that traveled the furthest to compete for the title – NSU (1,072 miles) and Cal. State San Bernardino (1,998 miles) and two of the most dominant programs in NCAA Division II. 

HOW THEY GOT HERE
No. 1 Nova Southeastern advanced to the Final Four for the first time in program history, defeating eighth-seed Missouri-St. Louis (82-75) in the Elite Eight. Will Yoakum continues to play exceptionally well, scoring a career-best 34 points in the victory.

No. 6 Cal. State San Bernardino, the fourth seed in the Elite Eight, handled Lincoln Memorial, defeating LMU 88-70, advancing to the Final Four for the second time in program history. The Yotes enter their matchup with the Sharks on a 16-game winning streak.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
The top-four seeds in the Elite Eight all won their first round matchup, marking the fourth time in tournament history since the reseeding of quarterfinal teams began in 2016.

No. 1 Nova Southeastern leads NCAA Division II in points-per-game (102.5), while Cal. State San Bernardino ranks seventh (88.5)

Brandon Knapper and Dontrell Shuler lead the Yotes, averaging 19.1 and 16.5 points, respectively.

Both the Sharks (34 consecutive wins) and the Yotes (16) enter the matchup riding lengthy winning streaks.

HOW TO WATCH
The Final Four matchup featuring the No. 1 Sharks and No. 6 Yotes will be streamed via CBS Sports Network. Tip-off for the game is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. ET
 

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The No. 1 Nova Southeastern Sharks Men’s Basketball team continued their chase of the program’s first NCAA National Championship, advancing to the Final Four for the first-time in program history, defeating Missouri-St. Louis in a battle from the tip-off until the final whistle. The top-ranked Sharks were led by 34 points from Will Yoakum.

INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Score – No. 1 Nova Southeastern 82 | Missouri-St. Louis 75
Records – No. 1 Nova Southeastern 34-0 | No. 8 Missouri-St. Louis 24-11
Location – Evansville, Ind. | Ford Center
Get Social – Instagram & Twitter – NSU_MBasketball | Facebook – NSU Men’s Basketball

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half – A steal from RJ Sunahara set up a Dallas Graziani bucket, giving the Sharks the first bucket of the game and an early lead. A few moments later, Graziani recorded his first steal of the game and set up a Yoakum three-pointer in transition to put NSU back in front 9-7. The Tritons did not back down, as the defenses for both teams battled back-and-forth, as neither team scored for nearly three minutes. USML took a three-point lead following two consecutive three-pointers, before Yoakum followed with a pair of buckets and reclaimed the lead for the Sharks at 19-18. With less than four minutes remaining in the first half, the Tritons took their largest advantage (30-25) in the opening frame. Kobe Rodgers beat the buzzer and sent the Sharks into the halftime break with momentum, but the score tied at 36-36.

Second Half – Nearly two minutes passed in the second half before either team got on the scoreboard, USML took control with two dunks from Drew Cisse, taking a 41-38 lead. Needing a spark on the offensive side of the ball, Yoakum took charge, driving into the paint and made the layup while being fouled for an and-one opportunity. Yoakum converted the three-point play the old fashioned way and cut the Tritons lead to 46-45. Midway through the second half, Jake Maranville stepped up and knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game at 51-51. The Sharks finally seized momentum as both Maranville and Yoakum hit three-pointers, giving NSU a 71-63 advantage with three-minutes remaining. Graziani hit a clutch jumper with less than a minute remaining and the Sharks sealed the 82-75 win from the free throw line.

STATS OF THE NIGHT
Will Yoakum has played his best basketball when the light’s have shined brightest. The Delaware, Ohio-native entered tonight’s matchup off a performance where he scored 33-points and hit tied the program record with nine three-pointers. Yoakum scored a new career-high 34 points, shooting 64% from the field.

The difference in the game came at the charity stripe. USML shot 43.8% as a team, while NSU shot 83.8% (31-37). Yoakum was 14-15 from the free throw line.

No. 1 Nova Southeastern advances to the Final Four for the first time in program history with the victory.

UPCOMING
No. 1 Nova Southeastern will take on the winner of fourth-seeded Cal. State Bernadino and fifth-seed Lincoln Memorial in the Final Four on Thursday, March 23. The game will be streamed live on the CBS Sports Network beginning at 7 p.m. ET.
 

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EVANSVILLE, Ind. – The No. 1 ranked Nova Southeastern Sharks (33-0) punched the program’s third ticket to the NCAA National Tournament Elite Eight by defeating Alabama-Huntsville 87-62 in the NCAA South Region Finals. The Sharks are set to match up against the eighth-seeded Tritons of Missouri-St. Louis on Tuesday evening in the Elite Eight.

HOW THEY GOT HERE
NSU (33-0) defended its titles as the Sharks repeated as Sunshine State Conference regular season, tournament, and NCAA South Region Champions. No. 1 Nova Southeastern features a pair of D2CCA All-Americans, RJ Sunahara and Will Yoakum. This is the third time in program history that the Sharks have made the Elite Eight, all coming under Head Coach Jim Crutchfield.

Missouri-St. Louis (24-10) enters the Elite Eight as the eighth-seed after defeating Parkside, Ferris State and McKendree in the NCAA Tournament Regional round. The Tritons make their return to the Elite Eight for the first-time since 1971-72.

WHAT TO WATCH
No. 1 Nova Southeastern has reached a new level during the NCAA tournament, having an average margin of victory of 32.6 in the NCAA South Region Tournament, which is seven-points higher than the Sharks average during the regular season.

Will Yoakum, a second-team D2CCA All-American, has been scorching hot during the Sharks postseason run. The Delaware, Ohio-native is averaging 24.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 58% from the field and 55% from beyond the arc.

NSU is top-10 in NCAA Division II in several categories, including scoring average (103.1), steals-per-game (12.3), second in assists-per-game (21.9), fourth in field goal percentage (51.4), and sixth in three-point percentage (40.1).

Missouri-St. Louis has three players averaging double-digit points, Isaiah Fuller (15.9), Victor Nwagbaraocha (11.2) and Bown Sandquist (11.0)

WATCH
STATS

UPCOMING
No. 1 Nova Southeastern tips-off against Missouri-St. Louis at 7 p.m. (ET) with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
 

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