SAVANNAH, Ga.- Savannah State's journey to winning a NCAA Division II National Championship will continue on Saturday afternoon when the Tigers travel to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to face Nova Southeastern in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Regional.

The game between SSU, who has been tabbed as the No. 8 seed, and the No. 1 seed Sharks will take place at 5 p.m. at the Rick Case Arena.

In their first and only meeting, Nova Southeastern defeated Savannah State 113-63 in the first round of the NCAA South Regional on March 13, 2022.

In that game, then freshmen Ayjay Plain finished with 13 points, two assists, two rebounds and one steal and Austin Lewis had three points.

Savannah State earned their way into the 2025 tournament after winning the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament with wins over Spring Hill, Miles, Central State and Tuskegee.

It will be the Tigers fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament.

The 1978-79 Tigers defeated Albany in the first round of the tournament, then fell to Centre in the second round. The 1979-80 Tigers beat UNC-Greensboro in the first round and fell to Lane in the second. The 1980-81 team beat Rose-Hulman and Southwestern (now Rhodes College) for the regional title, but lost to Otterbein in overtime in the national quarterfinals.

Savannah State (18-11) enters the tournament riding a eight-game winning streak, their longest since winning nine consecutive games during the 2027-18 season.

SSU averages 65.2 points a game while they give up 62.3 points a night which ranks third in Division II.

The Tigers are ranked No. 12 in the nation in turnovers forced per game (18.41), No. 16 in field goal percentage defense (41.1), No. 18 in 3-point percentage defense (30.5) and turnover margin (4.2) and No. 26 in steals per game (9.7).

Plain, who recently earned BOXTOROW HBCU Division II Second Team All-American honors, averages 12.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game for Savannah State. Qua King, who was named the MVP of the SIAC Tournament adds 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals per night.

Jeremiah Barze contributes 10.3 points and 3.1 rebounds a game and Javonte Landy chips in 9.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game.

Seven members on the Tigers roster hail from the state of Florida. In addition, interim head coach Clevan Thompson is from Belle Glade; Director of Athletics Opio Mashariki attended Bethune-Cookman; Assistant AD for Media Relations Joshua Jackson is from Jacksonville and attended Florida A&M; and assistant coach Randall Moss is a native of Jacksonville.

Nova Southeastern (30-1) is the top scoring team in Division II, averaging 105.2 points a night. Defensively, they surrender 80.5 points a game.

They have also won 81 home games in a row, a Division II record.

The Sharks rely on MJ Iraldi (24.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.1 steals), Ryker Cisarik (18.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.5 steals), Ross Reeves (13.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.6 steals), Dallas Graziani (12.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, 9.7 assists, 2.5 steals) and Tyler eberhart (12.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals).

Savannah State and Nova Southeastern, who competes in the Sunshine State Conference, have three common opponents in Florida Southern, St. Leo and Embry-Riddle.

The Tigers beat Embry-Riddle but lost to Florida Southern and St. Leo while Nova Southeastern beat all three of those teams.

NCAA Division II Tournament South Region Opening Round
#8 Savannah State vs. #1 Nova Southeastern
Date: Saturday, March 15th | Time: 5:00pm
Location: Rick Case Arena at Don Taft University Center | SW 75th Ave, Davie, FL 33314
Tickets: https://nsusharks.com/sports/2024/3/11/ncaa-dii-south-regional-tournament-ticketing.aspx
Live Stream: https://www.sunshinestateconference.tv/nsusharks/
Live Stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=586758
Postgame Press Conference Link: https://www.sunshinestateconference.tv/nsusharks/

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