Lander advances to NCAA Division II national title game

[ASFN Admin]

You must be registered for see images attach

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Lander head coach Omar Wattad has said all season that the Bearcats do not blink. That mindset showed again Friday night, sending Lander to the NCAA Division II National Championship game.Facing the nation’s No. 1 team and defending national champion, the Bearcats built a 15-point lead, lost it, then answered with a decisive 15-2 run to secure a 91-81 win over Nova Southeastern in the national semifinals at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on the campus of Duquesne University. Lander (30-5) will face Gannon for the national title on April 5 at 1 p.m. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.The victory marked Lander’s 15th straight. It is the first team appearance for Lander in a national final since 2000, when the men’s tennis program captured its 12th national championship. Gannon (33-3) advanced with a 98-80 win over Oklahoma Baptist in the other semifinal.Nova Southeastern entered the game 167-6 over the past five seasons and as the reigning national champion, but the Bearcats never viewed themselves as underdogs.”We knew it was us against the world,” Wattad said in a postgame interview on ESPN+. “There were probably some fans back home in Greenwood and the 20 guys in our locker room, and that was it. But we believed we could do it.”Lander also became the fourth Peach Belt Conference team to reach the national title game (2022 Augusta, 2012 Montevallo, 2008 Augusta State) and will look to become the league’s first national champion since Kennesaw State in 2004. “We are extremely happy. Shoutout to Greenwood, South Carolina, Lander University,” Wattad said. “We know you were with us in spirit.”Greyson Pritzl led five Bearcats in double figures with a game-high 25 points, knocking down five 3-pointers. Dylan Canoville added 18 points and 11 rebounds, dominating the paint with multiple second-chance dunks.Jacob Daniels finished with 17 points and five assists, while Antewan Webber Jr. scored 11 points and Bobby Crawford Jr. added 10. Navaughn Maise led the team with 12 rebounds.Lander set the tone early, holding Nova Southeastern scoreless on its first eight shots to take a 5-0 lead. After falling behind 18-12, the Bearcats responded with a 28-7 run to seize control.Canoville ignited the surge with a series of finishes inside, while Pritzl added a step-back 3-pointer to push the lead to 27-22. Lander extended the margin to 40-25 late in the first half and carried a 42-31 advantage into the break, the largest halftime deficit Nova Southeastern had faced all season. The Bearcats stretched the lead to 48-38 early in the second half before the Sharks chipped away. A jumper from Division II Player of the Year Dallas Graziani cut the deficit to four, and Nova eventually tied the game at 58 with 10:52 remaining.Each time, Lander responded.After the tie, the Bearcats delivered the game’s defining stretch, a 15-2 run fueled by defensive stops and transition offense. Pritzl and Daniels converted key baskets, and Canoville controlled the glass, helping push the lead back to double digits.Lander extended its advantage to 78-66 with just over five minutes to play, but Nova Southeastern made one final push, trimming the deficit to six in the closing minute. The Bearcats closed the door at the free-throw line, where Daniels went 4-for-4 in the final 34 seconds to seal the victory and send Lander to the national championship game.The National Championship game is slated for a 1 p.m. tip-off inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse, home of the Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever. The venue will also host the Division III Championship Game as well as the NIT Championship Game.

Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WSPA 7NEWS.

Continue reading...