FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Ross Reeves scored 28 points, Dallas Graziani added 20 points, six rebounds and five assists, and 1-seed Nova Southeastern defeated 5-seed Montevallo 98-85 in the NCAA Second Round on Sunday evening for their 104th straight home win. Ryan Davis became the all-time winningest player in Sharks' history, winning his 115th game as a Shark as NSU punched their ticket to the NCAA South Region Championship game. Eli Allen and Jaxon Nap both scored 19 points, and Nap supplied 13 rebounds for NSU. 



Score: #1 Nova Southeastern 98 | Montevallo 85
Records: #1 Nova Southeastern 29-1 (19-1 SSC) | Montevallo 22-9 (17-5 GSC)
Location: Crutchfield Court at Rick Case Arena | Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
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The Sharks raced out to an 8-0 start, as Bennett Kayser and Eli Allen provided all the points in the initial run. The Falcons finally got on the board with a three-pointer just before the under-16 media timeout, and they cut the deficit to 10-9 after a triple from Brandon Fussell. Three-point shooting kept the Falcons in the game, and they tied the game at 17 on another trey from Sam Duskin with just under 12 minutes remaining. The Sharks broke the stalemate with a trey from Jaxon Nap, but the Falcons later took a 27-26 lead when Fussell was fouled on a three-point attempt and converted the four-point play. 

NSU pushed its lead to 37-29 after a score from Nap, a trey from Dallas Graziani and an elbow jumper from Ryan Davis with 4:10 remaining. Montevallo cut the deficit to three after scores from Devin McKinnon and Derek Moore to draw within 39-36. The Sharks took a 46-39 halftime lead after a triple from Ross Reeves and two free throws from Eli Allen.

The Sharks stretched the lead to double digits, 49-39, on a trey from Allen to open the second half. Allen's layup with 17:19 remaining capped a 10-2 run to open the half and gave NSU a 56-41 advantage. Fussell later completed yet another four-point play with 14:18 left to cut the deficit to single digits, 61-52, before Nap scored another bucket for the Sharks. Reeves then took over for NSU, as he scored seven straight points to give the Sharks a 72-56 lead.

Nova Southeastern pushed the lead past 20 points after Graziani drilled another three-pointer, and the Sharks held an 86-66 lead with six minutes remaining. Montevallo briefly cut the lead to 14 points, but the Sharks' reserves closed the game, and Jaxon Nap's score put the finishing touches on the 98-85 victory.



Ross Reeves: 28 points
Dallas Graziani: 20 points, six rebounds, five assists
Jaxon Nap: 19 points, 13 rebounds
Eli Allen: 19 points, six rebounds, three steals



The Sharks advance to the NCAA Sweet 16 and will host the South Region Championship on Tuesday night for a date with Alabama-Huntsville. The game will be a rematch of last year's Sweet 16 game. To stay up-to-date on the Sharks' NCAA Tournament run, be sure to follow on Instagram and Twitter/X at NSU_MBasketball.