Kyreese Willingham knocked down a triple with .8 seconds left to lift the Minnesota State Mavericks to a 88-85 win over the Nova Southeastern Sharks and the DII National Title at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana Saturday night. Dylan Peeters paced the Mavericks with 19 points, Justin Eagins notched 17, while both Willingham brothers (Kyreese and Malik) along with Harrison Braudis each had 12.
Nova Southeastern was led by MJ Iraldi with 25, Shane Hunter added 19 to go along with 10 rebounds, while Isaiah Fuller netted 12 and Ryker Cisarik scored 11. NSU jumped out to a 12-2 lead in the games first two and a half minutes on a jumper by Ryan Walsh. The Mavericks would battle back and take a 26-25 lead with 7:10 in the opening half after a Peeters hoop. NSU would take a 40-38 lead after a Doomes jumper with nine ticks until halftime and take that lead into the break.
The Mavericks would open the half on a 9-0 run as a triple by Eagins gave them a 48-40 lead with 18:44 to go. The lead grew to 13 (56-43) on an Elijah Hazekamp triple two minutes later. A quick 6-0 Sharks run would be answered by another Eagins 3-ball. The Mavericks led 71-58 on a Peeters jumper at the 10:45 mark. NSU would go on a 13-0 run and knot the game at 71 with 6:55 remaining. The two teams went back and forth until Iraldi hit a NSU triple to make it 81-80 Sharks with 2:37 to go. A Eagins triple and a Willingham layup gave Minnesota State a four point lead (85-81) 35 seconds later. Shane Hunter cut the lead in half and then the game would be tied on a Iraldi layup at the 1:15 mark. After a missed jumper by Eagins NSU had the ball but the brothers Willighmam would come through. Malik got the steal and the Mavericks would call time out. Kyreese Willinghman would then drill the game winner with .8 seconds on the clock.
NSU shot 44.6 percent from the field, 55.6 percent (5-9) from the 3-point line, and 70 percent (14-20) from the free throw line. They won the rebounding battle 42-33. NSU had 10 assists and 13 turnovers as the quest for a second straight title ended at 32-3 on the year and the win streak ended at 20 straight.
Minnesotta State shot 52.4 percent from the floor, 43.8 percent (14-32) from the 3-point line, and 57.1 percent (8-14) from the free throw line. They had 18 assists and 18 turnovers as they went 35-2 on the year and joined the Minnesota State women as National Champs.
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