After winning their first Sunshine State Conference Tournament in program history, the focus for the NSU men’s basketball program shifts to the NCAA tournament to accomplish the ultimate goal: winning an NCAA Championship. Statistically and ideologically, the Sharks are a difficult team to beat.
Coach Jim Crutchfield’s bunch scores with the best of them, scoring 98.2 points per game, second in Division-II, and allowing just 77.1 points per game. Their 21-point scoring margin leads Division-II. Despite having the second highest scoring offense, the team is No. 97 in three-point shots made per game. The Sharks get a good portion of their production inside the three-point line.
“This team is a lot more inside oriented, and we score a lot more at the rim than previous teams I’ve coached,” said Crutchfield. “We’ve always talked about scoring any way we can, and I think we’ve adapted to our personnel.”
The Sharks are led in the scoring department by two dominant bigs in junior wing Sekou Sylla (6’5”) and sophomore forward RJ Sunahara (6’8”). Sylla averages 22.6 points on 58% from the field. The lefty is efficient under the rim. Sunahara puts up 19.7 points per game on 61% shooting. Despite that, the duo has hit just 19 three-pointers combined, with Sunahara contributing 18. What do the two have to say to those that think the three-ball is the only way to succeed?
“Stick to what’s working,” said Sylla. “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. I just live by that.”
“If you can score inside, you might as well,” said Sunahara. “There’s no point in switching it up if you’re scoring.”
The shooting ability of the two senior guards in Nick Smith and Eddie Puisis allows the inside oriented Sylla and Sunahara to play their game at the best potential. The efficient, lethal Puisis averages 15.1 points and shoots 50.6% from the field and 47.2% from deep. Smith shoots about 35% from behind the arc, spacing the court for Sunahara and Sylla.
“We work off each other,” said Sylla. “We’re only able to score because they’re such great shooters.”
Smith and Puisis were members of the Shark team that made the Final Four in 2020 and lead by example. Smith is the verbal leader that keeps the team in check and confident.
“Being there for the young guys, not being mad at them and just letting them know that they need to keep shooting or make the next play,” said Smith. “When I was a young guy, that gave me the confidence to make the next play.”
This isn’t Crutchfield’s first rodeo. He owns a 26-9 record in the NCAA tournament. Keeping his young team calm and ready is the main goal, but he isn’t too concerned about the difficulty of that task.
“We approach every game like it’s a big game, so this isn’t that much different,” said Crutchfield. “Even though we’re a very young team, we’re fairly mature about how we approach the game.”
During the 2021-2022 season, the Sharks cleaned out the awards in the SSC. Sylla was named as a member of First Team All-SSC and the SSC’s Player of the Year and Newcomer of the Year. Sunahara was also named to First Team All-SSC and received the SSC’s Defensive Player of the Year honors. Smith made the All-SSC Second Team. In addition, Crutchfield was named as the Coach of the Year in the SSC.
With the NCAA Tournament on the horizon, as Smith and Puisis say, the “job is not finished.”
