In heartbreaking fashion, the NSU men’s basketball team lost in the national quarterfinal of the NCAA Division-II Tournament to Black Hills State, losing 67-77. The Sharks put up a valiant effort, but in the end, they fell short.
Despite the game being tied at halftime, a cold second half sealed any hopes of a Sharks win. The team shot 26% (11-42) from the floor in the final 20 minutes. At one point, an NSU possession consisted of four offensive rebounds and five missed shots. Some days, the basket just feels like it has a cover on it.
The clear edge that Black Hills State had was in the free throw department. The Yellow Jackets shot 95% (21-22) from the line, with the Sharks shooting 56% (9-16). Black Hills State forward Joel Scott scored a game-high of 25 points, with 11 of those coming from the free throw line. Guard Adam Moussa scored 11 points on 1-10 from the field, though he hit all 8 of his free throw attempts. The game was decided at the stripe.
In the loss, junior forward Sekou Sylla scored 17 points. Senior guard Nick Smith put up 16 points on 44% from deep. Sophomore forward RJ Sunahara had a great game, racking up 14 points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Senior guard Eddie Puisis contributed eight points and six rebounds in 36 minutes. Freshmen Kobe Rodgers and Jonathan Pierre split time, though neither of them performed to their capabilities.
Smith and Puisis played their final games as Sharks. The two were instrumental to both tournament runs. Smith will go down as one of the best point guards to ever play for the Sharks, scoring the seventh most points in program history with 1,361 points. He averaged 11.6 points, 3.9 assists and 1.9 steals per game in his 117 career games. Puisis is one of the best shooters in NSU’s history, hitting the second most three pointers in NSU’s history with 224. He put up 10.2 points per game and holds the fourth and fifth best individual three-point shooting seasons in Shark history. Congrats to a great career to you both!
Next year, the Sharks will return their two leading scorers in Sylla and Sunahara. Sophomore guard Jake Maranville started 18 games as a freshman in 2019 but suffered a knee injury in 2021 that kept him out for the entire season. If healthy, he could slot back in as a starter going forward. Freshmen guard Rodgers and forward Pierre will surely have bigger roles in the absence of the two senior guards.
The Sharks will be returning a good portion of veterans as well. Sophomore guard Mike Moore could slide into the starting lineup, but his role as the sixth man is solid. Junior forward Lukas Speidel and sophomore forward Shane Hunter will contribute off the bench. Additionally, redshirt freshman forward Tommy Sala, freshman forward Alex Mangold and freshman guard Dallas Graziani could see their roles increase.
