FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – It's tourney time. After winning the program's fourth consecutive Sunshine State Conference regular season title, the second-ranked Nova Southeastern Sharks Men's Basketball team begins its pursuit of the program's fourth straight SSC tournament championship. In a rematch of last season's Sunshine State Conference tournament title game, the No. 2 and top-seeded Nova Southeastern Sharks Men's Basketball team will host the eighth-seeded Barry Buccaneers on Tuesday night at the Rick Case Arena.

No. 2 Nova Southeastern Sharks 27-1, 19-1 SSC | Sunshine State Conference Regular Season Champions
Head Coach Jim Crutchfield leads the Sharks into the conference tournament as regular season champions for the fourth straight season. During NSU's run of dominance over the SSC, Nova Southeastern has gone a combined 125-5 and 77-3 in Sunshine State Conference play. The Sharks enter Tuesday's quarterfinal game riding a 78-game home winning streak – dating back to February 26, 2020 – two shy of the NCAA Division II record.

The Sharks' high-powered offense leads NCAA Division II in points-per-game (105), scoring margin (+24), assists-per-game (24.4), and assist/turnover ratio (2.26). NSU also ranks top 10 nationally in field goal percentage (2^nd/52.47), effective field goal percentage (6^th/58.1%), fast break points-per-game (5^th/21.04), rebound margin (8^th/+8), rebounds-per-game (5^th/42.71), steals-per-game (3^rd/12.1), and turnovers forced per-game (9^th/19.43).

All five starters for NSU average double-digit points-per-game, led by Bevo Francis and Trevor Hudgins Award candidates MJ Iraldi (24.4) and Ryker Cisarik (18.3). Dallas Graziani, Nova Southeastern's third Bevo Francis Award candidate, averages 12.3 points-per-game. Graziani leads NSU in assists and has already set the single season record for assists (265), while also leading the team in steals (76). Ross Reeves (14.2) and Tyler Eberhart (11.9) round out the starting unit for the Sharks that combines for 81.1 points-per-game for the team. Alex Mangold provides the Sharks with a scoring option as part of the second unit and scored a season-high 17 points in the last match up against the Buccaneers on February 1^st.

Nova Southeastern swept the season series against the Buccaneers in the "County-Line Cup," beating Barry 119-77 on December 14^th and 103-63 on February 1^st. In the regular season against Barry, Iraldi averaged 28 points, while Reeves accounted for 17.5 per-game.

The Sharks are 16-2 against the Buccaneers under Jim Crutchfield, winning each match up since the 2018-19 season. NSU is 4-2 all-time against Barry in the Sunshine State Conference tournament and have matched up with the Buccaneers in each of the last four seasons – 2023-24 SSC Final, 2022-23 SSC Quarterfinal, 2021-22 SSC Final.

Barry Buccaneers 12-16, 8-12 SSC
Barry enters the Sunshine State Conference tournament 4-6 in their last ten games but closed the 2024-25 regular season by defeating Embry-Riddle 91-79 on Saturday, March 1^st. Led by the duo of Jimel Lane and Gabe Hernandez, the Buccaneers will look to steal a bid to the NCAA Tournament by going on a "Cinderella" run through the SSC bracket. Barry entered the 2024 tournament needing the same magic and began their run by pulling an upset over the second-seeded Florida Southern Moccasins and advanced to the SSC final before falling to the Sharks 87-76.

Against the Sharks, Lane averaged 18 points and seven rebounds, while adding four steals and a block; Hernandez averaged 15.5 points, shooting 68% from the field, in both games.

No. 2 Nova Southeastern begins their postseason push for the program's fourth consecutive Sunshine State Conference tournament title at 7:30 p.m. at the Rick Case Arena on Tuesday night. To stay up-to-date on Sharks Men's Basketball, be sure to follow on Instagram and X at NSU_MBasketball.