FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - In a clash of NCAA Division II Men's Basketball titans, the South Region Championship and a spot in the Elite Eight will be on the line at the Rick Case Arena on Tuesday night, as the second-ranked Nova Southeastern Sharks Men's Basketball team hosts the third-ranked Alabama-Huntsville Chargers. The Sharks and Chargers are the highest ranked teams remaining in the NCAA Division II Tournament, following No. 1 Daeman's loss in the East Region second round on Sunday night.
Both teams enter Tuesday night's championship game riding lengthy winning streaks; Nova Southeastern has won its last 19 games, while Alabama-Huntsville's lone loss on the 2024-25 season came at the hands of none other than the Sharks in the Chargers opening game of the campaign.
Based on Faktor Sports KPI rankings, a metric used by the NCAA Selection Committee to determine the tournament field, the Sharks (1st/0.423) and Chargers (2nd/0.304) have separated themselves from the rest of the Division II landscape and establishing each program as powerhouses.
NSU and UAH have matched up five times in history, with the Sharks leading the series 4-1, and this will be the second contest between the two programs in the NCAA South Region Title game, with the previous title game happening during the 2022-23 NCAA tournament.
In the first game between the two teams this season, the Sharks narrowly edged the Chargers with a 105-104 victory in overtime. Ryker Cisarik scored a career-high 32 points, adding a pair of blocks and eight rebounds. MJ Iraldi tallied 20 points in the win, while both Tyler Eberhart (18 points/12 rebounds) and Dallas Graziani (15 points/11 assists) recorded double-doubles.
No. 2 Nova Southeastern (32-1) | Sunshine State Conference regular season champions & Sunshine State Conference tournament champions
NCAA South Region Quarterfinals: #2 NSU 76, Savannah State 64
NCAA South Region Semifinals: #2 NSU 80, Lynn 72
The Sharks entered the NCAA Tournament after winning the program's fourth consecutive Sunshine State Conference tournament and also set the NCAA Division II record for consecutive home court victories. Dating back to February 26, 2020, Nova Southeastern has won 83 straight games at the Rick Case Arena, but those wins pale in comparison to the magnitude that Tuesday night's championship will be.
Through the SSC tournament title game, NSU led NCAA Division II in points-per-game (105.2) but are to meet that mark in either NCAA tournament game. Instead, the Sharks have relied on gritty defensive performances. NSU has held opponents to an average of 68 points, a 38% shooting percentage from the field and 28% from beyond the arc.
However, to punch the program's fourth straight ticket to the Elite Eight, Nova Southeastern will need to find its stroke from beyond the arc as NSU is just 10-45 from three in the NCAA Tournament. The Sharks continue to be a force on both the offensive and defensive glass, out-rebounding opponents 92-80 in the tournament, including 34-28 on the offensive end, which has led to NSU outscoring opponents 34-29 on second chance opportunities.
In the first match-up of the season between the two programs, each counting statistic was nearly identical across the board. NSU shot 47.6% from the field, grabbed 44 rebounds, while Cisarik netted 32 points and both Graziani and Eberhart tallied double-doubles. A full-team effort for (at least) 40 minutes will once again be needed for Jim Crutchfield's squad.
No. 3 Alabama-Huntsville (32-1) | Gulf South Conference regular season champions & Gulf South Conference tournament champions
NCAA South Region Quarterfinals: #3 UAH 99, Tampa 88
NCAA South Region Semifinals: #3 UAH 97, Florida Southern 86
Despite losing the program's first game under first-year Head Coach Mick Hedgepeth, the Chargers have been going on all-cylinders, without a slip-up, since early November. UAH enters the South Region title game riding the nation's longest winning streak, led by Gulf South Conference Player of the Year Tommy Murr. Hedgepeth led Alabama-Huntsville to the GSC's first undefeated conference record in 19 seasons and followed with winning the sixth Gulf South Conference tournament title in program history.
UAH has defeated a pair of Sunshine State Conference teams in the NCAA tournament by double digits, sending the Chargers to the South Region title game for the eighth time in program history.
Blake Campbell, who followed Hedgebeth from NCAA Division III program Berry, has been dominant in both tournament wins for the Chargers. The senior guard is averaging 28 points, shooting 63% from the field, and four rebounds per game.
It's the Sharks. It's the Chargers. It's the NCAA South Region Title game and the stakes have never been higher. To purchase tickets to the NCAA South Region championship, click here. To stay up-to-date on Sharks Men's Basketball, be sure to follow on Instagram and X at NSU_MBasketball.
