NSU men’s basketball team keeps streaks alive on way to third consecutive Elite Eight
The streak lives on at NSU.
Make that streaks … as in plural.
The top-ranked Nova Southeastern University Sharks men’s basketball team demolished visiting Florida Southern 98-66 on Tuesday night, advancing to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight for the third straight year.
In those three years, the Sharks are 97-3 – including 64 straight home wins. They have also won three straight Sunshine State Conference titles, regular season and postseason.
After going 36-0 and winning the program’s first national title last year, the Sharks will now take a 30-2 record to Evansville, Indiana, where they hope to win three more games. Their first game is Tuesday against seventh-seeded Southern New Hampshire (24-10).
“It’s crazy,” said NSU coach Jim Crutchfield, who has transformed this program since taking over in March of 2017. “It’s an interesting story … from last year to this year, the transition of personnel.”
Interesting is perhaps an understatement.
Miraculous might be a better description for what has happened with the Sharks, who lost all five of their starters from last season. Four of those starters transferred to Division I schools to cash in on NIL (name, image and likeness) money.
Jonathan Pierre earned roughly $500,000 per season to transfer to Memphis; Division II Player of the Year RJ Sunahara received $400,000 to sign with Georgia; Kobe Rodgers got at least $80,000 to sign with the College of Charleston; and Dallas Graziani cashed in on $50,000 to sign with Samford.
The Sharks also graduated Will Yoakum, who is now playing pro ball in Germany. In addition, two Sharks reserves with eligibility remaining bolted to play pro ball in Europe: Lukas Speidel (Denmark) and Tomas Murphy (Finland). Also, associate head coach Jordan Fee departed to run the program at Gannon University.
“I don’t like it,” Crutchfield said at the time. “But I’m a ‘glass half full’ guy. I look at this as a challenge.”
The Sharks have met that challenge despite starting the season with only seven healthy players.
On Tuesday, the Sharks were led by Shane Hunter, who posted 14 points, five rebounds, five blocks, two assists and two steals.
Hunter, a fifth-year senior from St. Thomas Aquinas and one of the few holdovers from last season, was named the South Region’s Most Valuable Player.
After playing as a reserve the past four years at NSU, Hunter has finally lived up to his potential – even if his playing style sometimes frustrates Crutchfield.
“He still wants to be a. point guard every now and then,” Crutchfield said of the 6-foot-10, 245-pound Hunter. “He’s really smart. He doesn’t always show it sometimes, but he’s really a crafty guy. He picks things up.”
In the regular season, Hunter made first-team All-SSC. He also joined teammate Isaiah Fuller on the league’s first-team All-Defense.
“The thing I keep telling Shane is: ‘Nobody can guard you inside.’ He is so agile,” Crutchfield said.
“He has developed a soft touch from 16 feet in. He never misses free throws now. He blocks shots.
“Shane Hunter is better today than he’s ever been in his life, and my hope is that he will be even better next week in Evansville, Indiana.”
Crutchfield, who uses a 10-man rotation, got some other good performances on Tuesday, including a game-high 19 points from reserve Trey Doomes, who made 9-of-12 shots in just 13 minutes.
Also for NSU, MU Iraldi scored 15 points and made the all-tournament team, and Ryan Davis drew a pair of charging calls in the first half, grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and scored eight points.
Defensively, the Sharks held SSC Player of the Year Luke Anderson to 18 points, including just four after halftime. Anderson made 1-of-5 shots in the second half.
Florida Southern’s Mike Donnelly, who somehow beat out Crutchfield for honors as SSC Coach of the Year, praised NSU following Tuesday’s game.
“They are super talented,” Donnelly said of the Sharks. “What’s remarkable is that they have been able to get guys to fit into their system and to play with a ton of confidence. It’s really impressive what they’ve been able to accomplish.”
Indeed, the Sharks want to build on that list of accomplishments with yet another potential streak – two straight national titles.
THIS AND THAT
▪ The Sharks’ women’s swimming team traveled to Geneva, Ohio this past weekend, winning their second straight national title. NSU’s Emily Trieschmann won national titles in the 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 800 freestyle, 1650 freestyle and the 800-freestyle relay.
▪ NSU’s women’s basketball team had its season end on Monday with a 63-56 loss to Tampa in the NCAA Sweet-Sixteen round at Valdosta, Georgia. The Sharks, who led for a majority of the game, finished 25-6, including a program-record 20-game win streak.
