NSU men's basketball survives thriller to secure second national title in three years
The Sharks are national champs – again.
MJ Iraldi made the tying and go-ahead free throws with 17.8 seconds left, and Nova Southeastern University's defense held up on the game's final shot as the Sharks defeated Cal State Dominguez Hills, 74-73, on Saturday afternoon in Evansville, Indiana.
The game was televised nationally by CBS.
NSU's men's basketball team has now won two national titles in the past three years under coach Jim Crutchfield.
The Sharks finished second last year.
NSU (36-1) tied a program record for most single-season wins, set previously in 2023.
The Sharks also have the longest active win streak in the nation at 23 games.
Dominguez Hills (30-6) had knocked off second-seeded West Liberty in the NCAA quarterfinals and fourth-seeded Dallas Baptist in the semifinals. The seventh-seeded Toros won in those efforts despite trailing by at least 17 points in each of those games.
But the Toros couldn't quite get past the top-seeded Sharks.
A big factor on Saturday was Toros star guard Jeremy Dent-Smith fouling out with 1:18 left. He finished with a game-high-tying 27 points.
Dent-Smith had made a 3-point play just a bit earlier to give the Toros a 71-68 lead.
NSU fought back, taking a 72-71 lead on two Dallas Graziani free throws with 40 seconds left. Graziani finished with 13 points and a game-high nine assists.
The Toros answered as a mid-range jumper by David Cheatom put them ahead, 73-72.
Iraldi, who was recently named the NCAA Division II National Player of the Year, then drove the lane, got fouled and made his free throws.
He – like Dent-Smith – finished with 27 points.
A year after losing in the national title game to Minnesota State on a buzzer beater, NSU made the stop it needed to make in the closing seconds.
On the game's final possession, the Toros did not call timeout. Instead, Cheatom got the ball at the top of the key and tried to drive around two Sharks.
Cheatom took a Euro-step, but his shot was too hard off the backboard. Toros center Adam Afifi had rebounding position for a possible game-winning put-back.
However, Sharks power forward Ryker Cisarik got his hand on the ball, and the Sharks escaped with the heart-thumping victory.
'It's surreal,' Iraldi said postgame on the CBS broadcast. 'I knew it would go down to the wire. Cal State is a great team. We just happened to come out on top.'
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