(March 30) -- In a championship game that lived up to its billing, Minnesota State captured its first national championship as Kyreese Willingham drained a corner three-pointer with 0.8 seconds remaining to give the Mavericks an 88-85 victory over defending champion Nova Southeastern. (Photo by Jared McFarlane, Great Lakes Valley Conference)
WIth the clock winding down, tournament most outstanding player Malik Willingham looped a pass to his brother in the corner in front of the bench and he drained the shot to allow Minnesota State to become just the second school and first in 40 years to win both the men's and women's basketball national championships in the same season.
Minnesota State (35-2) had five players in double figures in the win, led by Dylan Peeters with 19 pins and Justin Eagins with 17; Eagins had a big hand in the Mavericks' 18-5 spurt to open the second half with a pair of three-pointers along the way. The Mavericks shot 52.4 percent from the field in the game and connected 14 times from three-point range.
Nova Southeastern, who finished
32-3, got 25 points from MJ Iraldi and 19 from Shane Hunter.
Semifinal Round:
Nova Southeastern 91, Cal State San Bernardino 77
Nova Southeastern withstood Cal State San Bernardino's second half comeback effort to reach the national championship game for the second straight season, as it pulled away after the Coyotes had closed a 13-point gap down to one. The Sharks -- now winners of 20 straight games -- forced 19 turnovers and had an advantage of 31-3 on points off turnovers.
Shane Hunter led five Sharks in double figures with 24 points, while Sedrick Altman finished with 27 to lead the Coyotes.
Minnesota State 79, West Texas A&M 72
West Texas A&M overcame an eight-point deficit to tie Minnesota State in the second half, but the Mavericks answered with a run of their own to regain control of matters to reach the NCAA Division II championship game for the first time in school history.
Balanced scoring was the key for the Mavericks, as Malik WIllingham scored 19 points, Justin Eagins had 18 and Dylan Peeters recorded a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds. West Texas A&M also had four in double figures, led by Ahamed Mohammed with 19 points.
Quarterfinal Round:
Cal State San Bernardino 99, Gannon 65
The Coyotes dominated the Golden Knights throughout the afternoon, shooting 55 percent to Gannon's 28 percent and holding a season-best 26-rebound advantage to advance to the semifinal round for the second straight season. Sedrick Altman scored a season-high 37 points and hit all seven of CSUSB's three-point baskets, as he had a big hand in the Coyotes used a big run in the second half to break away from the Knights. CSUSB outscored Gannon 55-33 in the second half after leading by 12 at the intermisison.
LeAndrew Knight added 29 points for the Coyotes, while the Golden Knights -- who went from a three-win season to 32 wins this year -- got 19 points from Josh Omojafo in its first Elite Eight appearance since 2009.
Nova Southeastern 68, Southern New Hampshire 60
The seventh-seeded Penmen used the three-point shot to build a 14-point half time lead and built that margin to 19 in the first minute of the second half, but the top-ranked Sharks turned the tables after that as they outscored SNHU 40-18 in the second half to keep their hopes alive to repeat as national champions. The comeback from the 14-point halftime deficit matched the second largest comeback ever in an Elite Eight contest.
Despite shooting just 33 percent for the day, the Sharks forced 21 turnovers and scored 27 points off those mistakes to pull out the win. Isaiah Fuller and Mike Moore had 11 points apiece to lead Nova Southeastern's balanced scoring effort., while Matt Becht had 18 points to pace the Penmen, who hit nine of their 11 three-point shots in the first half to build their first half lead.
Minnesota State 98, Ferris State 70
In
the first evening quarterfinal, Minnesota State looked the part of the top seed in the Elite Eight as it shot 58 percent from the field and made 14-of-23 from three-point range to eliminate Ferris State. The Mavericks led 51-30 at halftime and were sparked by the play of Kyreese and Malik Willingham, as they combined for 46 points (25 by Kyreese) and went 19-of-26 from the field between them.
Ferris State was led by DeSean Munson with 11 poitns and Deng Reng with 10.
West Texas A&M 90, North Georgia 76
West Texas A&M got off to a fast start, then regrouped after North Georgia overcame a 17-point deficit to finish the game strong and reach the national semifinals for the fourth time in the last six tournaments. The Buffaloes were up by 17 with under eight minutes to go in the first half, but a big run by North Georgia allowed the Nighthawks to catch up and eventually take the lead, only to see West Texas A&M outscore them 25-11 over the final 6:46 to win the game.
Larry Wise led all scorers in the game with 25 points and Ryland Holt finished with 21, while Frank Champion finished with 19, including 17 in the second half when North Georgia shot 62.5 percent from the floor.
2023-24 NCAA Division II Conference Tournaments | |||
Conference | Dates | Site* | Champion |
Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association | Feb. 26-March 3 | Baltimore, Md. | Lincoln (Pa.) |
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference | Feb. 28-March 5 | Sioux Falls, S.D. | Minnesota State |
South Atlantic Conference | March 5-8 | Rock Hill, S.C. | Catawba |
Northeast-10 Conference | March 1-9 | Manchester, N.H. | Southern New Hampshire |
Great Midwest Athletic Conference | March 5-9 | North Canton, Ohio | Walsh |
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference | March 5-9 | Grand Junction, Colo. | Fort Lewis |
Peach Belt Conference | March 6-9 | Aiken, S.C. | North Georgia |
California Collegiate Athletic Association | March 7-9 | San Bernardino, Calif. | Cal State LA |
Great Northwest Athletic Conference | March 7-9 | Ellensburg, Wash. | Central Washington |
Pacific West Conference | March 7-9 | San Diego, Calif. | Azusa Pacific |
Conference Carolinas | March 3-10 | Spartanburg, S.C. | UNC Pembroke |
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | March 3-10 | Savannah, Ga. | Clark Atlanta |
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference | March 4-10 | Erie, Pa. | Gannon |
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference | March 5-10 | Caldwell, N.J. | Jefferson |
Gulf South Conference | March 5-10 | Birmingham, Ala. | West Georgia |
Sunshine State Conference | March 5-10 | Davie, Fla. | Nova Southeastern |
East Coast Conference | March 6-10 | Sparkill, N.Y. | St. Thomas Aquinas |
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference | March 6-10 | Marquette, Mich. | Ferris State |
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association | March 6-10 | Kansas City, Mo. | Northwest Missouri State |
Mountain East Conference | March 6-10 | Wheeling, W.Va. | Charleston |
Great American Conference | March 7-10 | Shawnee, Okla. | Arkansas Tech |
Great Lakes Valley Conference | March 7-10 | St. Charles, Mo. | William Jewell |
Lone Star Conference | March 7-10 | Frisco, Texas | Eastern New Mexico |
*Site of championship game |