EVANSVILLE, Ind. --- The NCAA DII National Championship game came down to the closing seconds Saturday afternoon but a three pointer in the corner by Kyreese Willingham with 0.8 seconds left proved to be the difference as Minnesota State won its first NCAA DII Championship over Nova Southeastern by the score of 88-85.
With the win, MSU finishes its season with a 35-2 record. With the loss, NSU finishes its season with a 32-3 record.
The opening minutes of the game saw the Sharks take advantage of a few MSU turnovers as they built a 12-2. After taking a timeout, the Mavericks got back on track with a pair of baskets from Dylan Peeters and Elijah Hazekamp to get back within five of NSU at 12-7 with 15:06 to go in the half. By the midpoint of the first half NSU was able to extend its lead to 21-12 with 10:32 to go, with MSU's two scores coming courtesy of Justin Eagins and Malcolm Jones.
The Mavericks then responded with a 16-6 run over the next four minutes to take a 28-27 lead. Four Mavericks scored during that stretch, including Harrison Braudis and Kyreese Willingham who each tallied five points. The lead would exchange three more times up to the 4:00 media timeout as NSU led the Mavericks 34-33.
The final four minutes of the half saw two more lead changes as the Sharks carried a 40-38 lead into halftime.
All eight Mavericks who saw the court in the opening stanza reached the scoring column. MSU was paced by Peeters who notched eight points, behind a 4-of-5 effort from the field. Both Braudis and Kyreese Willingham notched seven points each. Hazekamp led the Mavericks in rebounds in the first half with five.
As a unit, MSU shot 45.2% from the field in the first half. The Mavericks also passed out eight assists.
Ryker Cisarik led all scorers in the first half with nine points, while Shane Hunter tallied eight points.
As a team, NSU shot 37.5% from the field. The Sharks also forced nine Maverick turnovers.
The second half saw the Mavericks come out firing on all cylinders as they started the half on a 10-0 run to take a 48-40 lead with 18:41 to go. Eagins notched five of MSU's 10 points during the opening stretch of the second half. With 11:20 remaining in the game the Mavericks led by 10 at 68-58 as Braudis, Eagins, Hazekamp and Malik Willingham each connected from downtown.
Trailing 71-58 with 11:19 to go, the Sharks then put together a 13-0 run to tie the game at 71-71 with 6:55 to go in the game. The lead would change hands a few more times as the game remained tied at 85-85 with 1:15 to go.
The Mavericks had the first chance at taking the lead in the final minute but their shot just missed and was rebounded by NSU. Then with 27 seconds to go in the game, Malik Willingham got the steal underneath the basket and called a timeout.
As he had during the NCAA Central Region Championship, Malik Willingham had the ball in the closing seconds before finding the open man, this time his brother Kyreese Willingham, in the corner who drained the three pointer with 0.8 seconds left on the clock to put MSU up 88-85. An FSU turnover on the inbounds pass sealed the deal for the Mavericks.
Peeters finished with a team-leading 19 points, to go along with four assists, as he shot 9-of-10 from the field. Eagins added 17 points and six rebounds, while Malik Willingham, Kyreese Willingham and Braudis each tallied 12 points. Malik also tallied five assists and five steals, while Kyreese hauled in five rebounds. Braudis also passed out three assists as he finished 4-of-5 from the field.
As a unit, MSU shot 52.4% from the field, including a 14-of-32 (.438) showing from downtown. The Mavericks also passed out 18 assists and recorded 10 steals.
MJ Iraldi led the Sharks with 25 points and seven rebounds, while Hunter notched a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Isaiah Fuller recorded 12 points of his own.
As a team, NSU shot 44.6% from the field, including a 5-of-9 performance from three point range. The Sharks also hauled in 42 rebounds.
Malik Willingham was named Elite Eight Most Outstanding Player. Kyreese Willigham also qualified for the All-Tournament Team.
No comments:
Post a Comment