The hustle turned in by Nova Southeastern University’s men’s basketball team on a play-by-play basis would put some NBA teams to shame.
Except … for about 50 seconds to start the second half of Saturday night’s NCAA Division II South Region opener against visiting Savannah State.
NSU Sharks coach Jim Crutchfield rarely burns a timeout 50 seconds into a half.
Except … for Saturday night.
“I wasn’t happy with some things,” Crutchfield said of his players, “and I let them know it.”
Crutchfield’s “chat” with his players clearly worked as they resumed to their customary hustle game and defeated Savannah State, 76-64.
It was NSU’s 82nd consecutive home win, extending the record of 80 they broke last week. Jefferson (Pennsylvania) set the previous mark from 1991 to 1995.
But the home streak now takes a back seat to NSU’s pursuit of what would be its second national championship in three years.
That title chase continues on Sunday night at 7:30 as the Sharks (31-1, ranked second in the nation) play host to Lynn (21-9).
Lynn, the fifth seed in the eight-team South Region, upset fourth-seeded Valdosta State, 86-74, late Saturday night.
The Sharks have gone 2-0 against Lynn so far this season, beating the Fighting Knights by 19 and 16 points, respectively.
But Crutchfield — whose team is two wins away from winning the South Region and a total of five victories short of the national championship — doesn’t want to see what he witnessed at the start of Saturday’s second half.
Here’s what happened:
After leading 38-31 at intermission, NSU’s MJ Iraldi misfired on the first shot of the second half.
That wasn’t a big problem for Crutchfield.
Guys miss shots. It’s normal.
The issue was not trying hard enough to grab the rebound.
“We’re not a team that runs back when we shoot the ball,” Crutchfield said. “We go after offensive boards.”
On the other end, NSU stripped Savannah State of the ball. But – again, in Crutchfield’s view – the Sharks did not pursue the ball with their usual fervor.
Timeout!
“We were on track to lose the game,” Crutchfield said. “I said: ‘Either we pick it up … or we’re going to get beat.’
“I rarely have to remind our guys, but we need good effort every second of the game.”
After the timeout, the Sharks got back to their customary full-court, frenetic hustle, getting deflections all over the place and taking nothing for granted.
That effort helped give NSU its 18th consecutive victory overall, regardless of site, and the win came despite the Sharks scoring 32 points fewer than their season average.
NSU shot just 40.3 percent from the floor, including 3-for-18 on 3-pointers (16.7 percent). NSU also shot just 19-of-30 on free throws, missing many of those freebies in the final few minutes.
Crutchfield gave credit to Savannah State (18-12), which played well above its standing as the last seed in this tournament.
“I see why they won their conference championship,” Crutchfield said of Savannah State. “They are a scrappy bunch. They play really good defense.
“They brought out what looked to be the worst of us a few times.”
Savannah State entered the game ranked third in the nation in scoring defense (61.0).
“They get a lot of stops, but they don’t do it by sitting back and playing pack-line defense,” Crutchfield said.
“They get after you. They double-team you when you set a ball screen. They double-team handoffs. I like their aggressiveness.
“If they were going to win, their defense was going to generate points, which is what we do.”
Except … for those first 50 seconds of the second half.
THIS AND THAT
▪ NSU’s women’s basketball team, which is ranked 24th in the nation, upset 13th-ranked Embry-Riddle, 66-63, in a South Region semifinal on Saturday night in Jackson, Tennessee. NSU (27-6) will play for the South Region title against Union (Tennessee) on Monday night. Union (31-3) has won 17 straight games.
▪ Miami Dade College’s men’s basketball team upset Chipola – the nation’s No. 11 junior-college team – in the state playoffs on Thursday. However, unranked MDC (19-13) lost to No. 19 Pensacola on Friday, 64-50.
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