Lander stuns No. 1 Nova Southeastern, advances to DII men’s basketball championship game
Down goes No. 1! The DII men’s basketball defending champions and No. 1-seeded Nova Southeastern have 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 highly effective 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 worry of their offensive and defensive assaults in opposition to 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 beautiful one of the best group 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 by the second half, by no means discovered a rhythm. Lander had the seventh-best field-goal share protection, holding groups to 39.5 % capturing, and it confirmed on this game. The Bearcats held Nova Southeastern to simply 32.6 % capturing and 2-for-16 from 3-point land. It was the Sharks’ worst capturing efficiency of the season by a good margin and the fewest 3-pointers they hit all yr.
High-energy Bearcat assault
The Bearcats have been bodily in each facet of the game. Usually, Nova Southeastern’s full-court game plan, urgent for a lot of the game, takes a group out of their rhythm. It wears them down and plenty of occasions, leaves them wanting the basket, permitting Nova Southeastern to win in lopsided trend.
The Bearcats weren’t afraid of the stress, and saved 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 a watch, Lander jumped again out to a seven level lead and by no means relinquished the lead once more.
While Nova Southeastern, the most effective rebounding groups in DII, gained the battle of the boards, Lander restricted the second likelihood factors. So, with the poor capturing night time, the Sharks weren’t ready to persistently capitalize on their misses, regardless of the sting in rebounding. The Bearcats appeared to sluggish the game down and by no means let the Sharks get comfy 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 a minimum of 4 3-pointers in five-straight event video games. Pritzl had arguably his greatest 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 a daily starter, supplied fairly the spark in his 25 minutes. In reality, you possibly can argue two of the largest video games of Canoville’s season have been in opposition to Lenoir-Rhyne to win the Southeast Region and within the upset of Nova Southeastern. He hit 9-of-16 photographs, double-doubling with 18 factors and 11 rebounds.
Jacob Daniels, the Bearcats’ freshman sensation, additionally had a giant 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 current historical past.
