Nova extends home win streak to 101, advance to conference final
The NSU Sharks, the top-ranked NCAA Division II team in the nation, defeated rival Barry University 94-77 on Thursday night.
It was NSU’s 101st consecutive home win, a Division II record.
With the win, the Sharks (26-1) advance to the Sunshine State Conference championship game on Sunday at 4 p.m. against visiting Palm Beach Atlantic (26-4).
NSU is 1-1 against Palm Beach Atlantic this season. The Sharks lost 88-83 at PBA on Dec. 13, but NSU avenged its only loss of the year by defeating the Sailfish, 103-82, at home on Jan. 24.
Here are your five NSU basketball takeaways:
1: AWARD-WINNERS: On Wednesday, NSU cleaned up at the annual SSC awards announcements. First of all, Jim Crutchfield was named Coach of the Year for the fifth time in the past eight seasons.
In addition, 5-9 point guard Dallas Graziani was named the SSC Player of the Year and also the Defensive Player of the Year. He is averaging 19.9 points, and he ranks fourth in the nation in assists (6.5). He is also first in the nation in assists to turnovers (3.6) and 24th in steals (2.4).
Graziani led the way on Thursday with game highs in points (21) and assists (seven).
Three other NSU players earned all-league honors: Ross Reeves (first team); Jaxon Nap (second team); and Ryan Davis (all-defense).
Reeves, a 6-4 shooting guard, ranks seventh in the nation in scoring average (23.3).
“That dude is an animal,” Davis said of Reeves. “The shots he’s been making this season are shots I’ve never seen before in my life. He’ll go down the lane and shoot the ball off one leg with two guys in his face, and it somehow goes in the rim.”
2: SENIOR LEADERSHIP: The Sharks start two sixth-year seniors (Graziani and Reeves) and two fourth-year seniors (Nap and Davis).
Reeves, who is 26 years old, also took two years off from basketball to go on a Mormon mission.
“It’s good to have experienced leaders on the court,” Crutchfield said. “I bank on them making me look good as a coach.”
3: FAN FACTOR: The Sharks believe their fans have a lot do with their home winning streak.
“I recognize a lot of the fans at our games,” Davis said. “It’s not just a one-way thing. I respect our fellow students, and we love it when they come out to our games.
“They are a huge reason for our success. There have been games where maybe we could’ve lost, but our fans are rocking, and they pull us through.”
4: TEAM BUILDING: Of the five Sharks who started last season’s national championship game, only two players returned (Graziani and Reeves). The three graduated starters are: MJ Iraldi (now playing in the G League); Tyler Eberhart (Portugal) and Ryker Cisarik (Czech Republic).
Of the three new starters, two were NSU reserves last season (Davis and Eli Allen). The only newcomer is Nap, a 6-7 transfer from Seattle Pacific, an NCAA Division II school in his home state of Washington.
And of the 15 players on NSU’s roster, all of them are American-born, including three from Florida (Davis, Graziani and Alex Sessoms. Graziani, who is from Pembroke Pines, is the only South Floridian.
There are also three players from Pennsylvania, two from Ohio and one each from Illinois; Maryland; Minnesota; New Jersey; Utah; Washington; and West Virginia.
NSU signed 11 of these 15 players out of high school.
5: NSU WOMEN: Four Sharks earned all-conference honors on Wednesday, including. Markayla Holland and Taydra Simpson, who both made the five-player All-Defense team. In addition, Bridie McCann and Kaliyah Morales made second-team All-SSC.
On Thursday, the NSU women defeated Embry-Riddle, 75-71, as McCann scored a game-high 18 points. Morales added 16 points, and Holland added 11 rebounds.
Next up is the SSC final as NSU (26-4) will visit Florida Southern (23-6) on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The teams split two meetings this season. However, Florida Southern won the most recent matchup, 90-73, on Feb. 28.
