Perfect season ends for top-ranked Nova Southeastern men’s basketball in Elite Eight
The perfect record is gone.
The season is over, too.
That’s the way things went for Nova Southeastern University’s men’s basketball team on Tuesday afternoon. The Sharks – ranked No. 1 in the nation among NCAA Division II teams – were beaten by Black Hill State, 77-67, in the Elite Eight playoffs round at Evansville, Indiana.
Forward Sekou Sylla, who was named the National Player of the Year on Monday, led NSU with 17 points.
No. 22 Black Hills State (26-7), based in Spearfish, South Dakota, was powered by Joel Scott, who had game highs in points (25) and rebounds (13). He made 7-of-11 from the floor and 11-of-12 on free throws for Black Hills, which had never made an NCAA Tournament prior to this season.
NSU (31-1) shot just 32.9 percent from the floor, 25 percent on 3-pointers (8-for-32) and 56.3 percent on free throws (9-for-16).
The Sharks, who lost for the first time since March 8, 2020, were even worse in the second half, shooting 26.2 percent overall and 22.2 percent on 3-pointers.
Even so, the Sharks were in the game, trailing 62-59 following a Sylla free throw with 3:16 left.
That’s when things got ugly for NSU.
Sylla missed his second free throw. After a Black Hills turnover, the Sharks missed five straight 3-pointers in the same possession – by Nick Smith, Eddie Puisis, Smith again, Puisis again and Kobe Rodgers.
Any of those shots would’ve tied the score. Instead, Black Hills’ Tommy Donovan finally grabbed a defensive rebound, and teammate Sindou Cisse made the game’s next shot, a 3-pointer that extended NSU’s deficit to 65-59.
That was the start of an 11-0 Black Hills run that put the game away.
NSU missed 11 straight shots during that span, including the Sylla free throw.
For the game, Black Hills didn’t shoot the ball well from the floor (41 percent), but the underdogs were nearly perfect from the foul line (21-for-22). Black Hills also outrebounded NSU 55-35.
The Sharks turned the ball over just seven times and forced 20 Black Hills miscues. But due to their poor shooting, the Sharks got just 10 points off those turnovers.
For NSU’s starters, Sylla made his first four shots and then went 3-for-13. Smith scored 16 points on 6-for-17 shooting. RJ Sunahara scored 14 points on 5-for-13 shooting. Puisis scored eight points on 3-for-15 shooting, and Rodgers fouled out with no points on 0-for-4 shooting.
Still, this tied the deepest advance in program history, matching the 2018-2019 team that went 29-4, also under coach Jim Crutchfield.
After that, NSU didn’t get to finish its 2019-2020 season due to COVID, and the Sharks skipped last season for the same reason.
“Not a great shooting day, but maybe Black Hills State had something to do with that,” Crutchfield said after Tuesday’s loss. “I’m really proud of my team. We battled until the end.”