EVANSVILLE, IN. – For the third consecutive season, the second-ranked Nova Southeastern Sharks Men’s Basketball team has advanced to the NCAA Division II Final Four, as NSU defeated the eighth-seeded Assumption Greyhounds 102-93 in the national quarterfinals on Tuesday evening at the Ford Center. Led by 24 points from Tyler Eberhart, four Sharks scored over 20 points in the victory, including Dallas Graziani and MJ Iraldi both recording 22 points, as well as Ryker Cisarik adding 20.
The Sharks improve to 21-3 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, all under Head Coach Jim Crutchfield, including winning 15-of-16 dating back to the 2022-23 tournament.
Records: No. 2 Nova Southeastern 34-1 | Assumption 22-10
Score: No. 2 Nova Southeastern 102 | Assumption 93
Location: Ford Center | Evansville, IN.
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First Half – After falling behind 4-0 in the early moments of the game, MJ Iraldi and Dallas Graziani combined to score the first ten points for the Sharks as NSU led 10-7 after three minutes of play. Graziani and Eli Allen led a 7-0 run for the Sharks, as Nova Southeastern took a 10-point lead. Tyler Eberhart and Ryker Cisarik both made their presence felt, as each tallied a dunk and pushed the Sharks’ advantage to 35-16 over Assumption. A three-point bucket from Ryan Davis gave Nova Southeastern a 41-21 lead, as the Sharks continued to pull away in the opening half. NSU closed the half leading the Greyhounds 56-36.
Second Half – Eberhart opened the second half by scoring the first five points for NSU, giving Nova Southeastern its largest lead of the game (25 points), as the Sharks led 61-36. The Greyhounds made a push, cutting their deficit to just eight points, but a lay-up from Eberhart, followed by a second chance bucket from Iraldi, pushed the Sharks’ lead to 77-65 over Assumption. Graziani and Iraldi each knocked down a clutch three-pointer for Nova Southeastern, maintaining a double-digit advantage over the Greyhounds. NSU sealed the Elite Eight victory, the third consecutive national quarterfinal win for the program, defeating Assumption 102-93.
Tyler Eberhart: 24 points, 10-17 FG, five rebounds
Dallas Graziani: 22 points, eight rebounds, nine assists
MJ Iraldi: 22 points, eight rebounds
Ryker Cisarik: 20 points, 6-11 FG, five rebounds, five assists
Eli Allen: 7 points, 2-2 FG, five rebounds
The Sharks will take on the winner of the No. 5 Washburn and No. 10 Lenoir-Rhyne on Thursday, March 27th, in the national semifinal. Tip-off is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. EST and the game will be available on ESPN+. To stay up-to-date on Sharks Men’s Basketball, be sure to follow on Instagram & X at NSU_MBasketball.
