Down goes No. 1! The DII men’s basketball defending champions and No. 1-seeded Nova Southeastern were upset in the national semifinals by No. 5 Lander. The Bearcats are heading to their first-ever national championship game in program history after silencing the potent Shark attack.
It wasn’t simply a win. The Bearcats dominated the Sharks from start to finish. They held the lead for 32 of the 40 minutes and showed no fear in their offensive and defensive attack against the DII men’s basketball superpower, winning by 10 points, 91-81.
Defense wins championships
Lander was the No. 2 seed in the Southeast Region. The Bearcats advanced to the DII Men’s Elite Eight by absolutely smothering a Lenoir-Rhyne offense that was No. 7 in DII in scoring at 89.5 points per game by holding the Bears to just 62 points. That set the tone for what Lander would do in the next two rounds.
Lander upset No. 4 Daemen by holding the Wildcats to just 74 points. The Bearcats followed that up by stunning the best team in DII men’s basketball and holding them to just 81 points. The Sharks score 99.4 points per game and, minus a short burst to tie it roughly halfway through the second hald, never found a rhythm. Lander had the seventh-best field-goal percentage defense, holding teams to 39.5 percent shooting, and it showed in this game. The Bearcats held Nova Southeastern to just 32.6 percent shooting and 2-for-16 from 3-point land. It was the Sharks’ worst shooting performance of the season by a decent margin and the fewest 3-pointers they hit all year.
High-energy Bearcat attack
The Bearcats were physical in every aspect of the game. Usually, Nova Southeastern’s full-court game plan, pressing for most of the game, takes a team out of their rhythm. It wears them down and many times, leaves them short of the basket, allowing Nova Southeastern to win in lopsided fashion.
The Bearcats were not afraid of the pressure, and kept their energy high in a highly physical game. They led by as many as 15, and Nova Southeastern impressively fought back to tie it. However, in what seemed like a blink of an eye, Lander jumped back out to a seven point lead and never relinquished the lead again.
While Nova Southeastern, one of the best rebounding teams in DII, won the battle of the boards, Lander limited the second chance points. So, with the poor shooting night, the Sharks weren’t able to consistently capitalize on their misses, despite the edge in rebounding. The Bearcats seemed to slow the game down and never let the Sharks get comfortable in their high-octane attack unfold.
Stars shine bright
Greyson Pritzl has been one of the big reasons for Lander’s tournament success. The sharpshooting guard has hit at least four 3-pointers in five-straight tournament games. Pritzl had arguably his best game yet, scoring 25 points, while going 5-for-10 from 3, grabbing eight rebounds and hitting all four key free throws.
Dylan Canoville, who isn’t even a regular starter, provided quite the spark in his 25 minutes. In fact, you could argue two of the biggest games of Canoville’s season were against Lenoir-Rhyne to win the Southeast Region and in the upset of Nova Southeastern. He hit 9-of-16 shots, double-doubling with 18 points and 11 rebounds.
Jacob Daniels, the Bearcats’ freshman sensation, also had a big game, scoring 17, but everyone contributed for the Bearcats. Bobby Crawford Jr. had 10 points, Navaughn Maise had 12 big rebounds and Antewan Webber Jr. added 11 points. The depth of firepower that came to play allowed the Bearcats to stay fresh and keep up the intense energy all game.
On the opposite side, DII player of the year Dallas Graziani closed out his impressive career — which includes two national championships — with 15 points and seven assists. Jaxon Nap had a monster double-double with 17 points and 20 rebounds, as five Sharks scored in double figures. It simply wasn’t enough in one of the biggest upsets in the DII Men’s Elite Eight in recent history.
