PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Greyson Pritzl and
Navaughn Maise had gigantic second halves, helping carry the Lander Bearcats into their first men's basketball Final Four in program history.
The pair combined for 31 points in the second half, rallying Lander past Daemen University 77-74 Wednesday night in the NCAA Division II Tournament quarterfinals at the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse on the campus of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.
Maise and Pritzl combined for five points in the first half but were 11 for 13 from the floor at one point in the second half when the Bearcats rallied to take the lead.
It was the 14th consecutive victory for the fifth-seeded Bearcats (29-5). They will face top seed and defending national champion Nova Southeastern in a semifinal game Friday night at 8:30 at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse. The game will be televised on ESPN+.
It was just the third loss in two years for fourth-seeded Daemen, which finished 33-2.
Third-seeded Gannon and seventh-seeded Oklahoma Baptist will play in Friday's other semifinal. The winners face off for the national championship Easter Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind.
Wednesday was Lander's first Elite Eight appearance since the 1998-99 season when they were known as the Senators.
The Lander women's team reached the Final Four in the 2020-21 season.
Pritzl scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half, including four 3-pointers for the Blue and Gold.
Maise, who did not score in the last two games of the Southeast Regional, tallied 13 of his 16 points in the second half for Lander.
Jacob Daniels posted a double-double, scoring 11 points and leading the Bearcats with 10 assists and five steals.
Bobby Crawford Jr. also scored 11 points while leading Lander with seven rebounds. Crawford made four of five shots from the floor and two huge free throws in the final seconds.
Antewan Webber Jr. added eight points for the Bearcats while
Tommy Moore had three steals, including the game-clincher in the final seconds.
Benjamin Bill made 12 of 16 shots for the Wildcats, leading all scorers with 27 points.
Lander has reached the Final Four after finishing just 15-14 last season.
"It's wonderful," Bearcats head coach
Omar Wattad said post-game on ESPN+. "We have a unified group that's mentally tough. They play hard, they play together, they are extremely competitive.
"This isn't the first time we came back (from behind)," he said. "All year, they don't blink. They don't blink when things don't go right. They stay locked in. They stayed focused. They love one another. We are rolling. It's a wonderful basketball team. I'm proud of these guys."
Maise scored 13 points early in the second half to help Lander wipe out a 10-point deficit. Then Pritzl took over, scoring 16 points in a crucial 10-minute stretch of the second half including a pair of treys which wiped out a 68-63 deficit.
"
Greyson Pritzl is a phenomenal basketball player," Wattad said. "I didn't do a good job of utilizing his abilities (last year). Our team and our scheme didn't really fit what we recruited him to be. But he has taken a huge step forward. The game is very mental and he's playing with unbelievable confidence. He's a baller, he's a stud, he stepped up big in the second half."
Crawford and
Dylan Canoville each had a pair of early baskets in the paint for Lander, which trailed 10-8 at the 15-minute mark of the opening half.
But the Wildcats, despite eight early turnovers, made eight of their first 11 shots from the floor including four of five from behind the arc to lead 20-10 with 11 minutes to go.
Webber rallied the Bearcats, circling the defense for a backdoor layup and then swishing a 3-pointer from the left corner to cut their deficit to 22-19 with 8:25 left.
Maise made a 3-pointer from the left corner as Lander trailed 26-22 inside the seven-minute mark. Crawford's second dunk of the game, off a transition pass from Webber, pulled the Bearcats within 30-25 with 4:37 left.
Daniels made a 3-pointer and a tear drop shot in the paint to keep Lander within striking distance late in the first half.
Pritzl's first basket of the game was a driving layup which cut the Bearcat deficit to 39-34 with 28 seconds remaining. That would be the halftime score as Daemen shot 63 percent (17 of 27) to 44 percent for LU (15 of 34).
Daemen stayed hot by making its first two shots of the second half to build its first double-digit lead at 44-34 on Justin Hemphill's open 3-pointer from the top of the key.
But Maise caught fire with a 3-pointer from the right side, a layup through contact that resulted in a three-point play, and he scored twice more at the rim as Lander trailed 46-44 with 16:49 to go.
Crawford took an alley-oop pass from Daniels and dunked, bringing the Bearcats within 48-46 at the 16-minute mark.
Lander took its first lead since it was 4-3 when Pritzl drained a 3-pointer for a 49-48 advantage with 15:22 left.
Maise struck again, knocking down a trey from the left side as the Bearcats broke a 49-all tie to lead 52-49. Pritzl made a mid-range shot and driving layup as LU led 56-53 with 12 minutes to go.
Jake Tringone's bucket in the paint put the Blue and Gold back on top, 58-56, with 10:19 left. The next go-ahead basket for the Bearcats was a 3-pointer by Pritzl, making it 61-59 at the 9:26 mark.
Daemen regained the lead with 7:28 to go on Bill's dunk, making it 63-61.
After Lander called a timeout, Daniels drove straight to the basket for a layup to tie the game at 63-all with 7:08 left.
After falling behind 68-63, Pritzl's long 3-pointer from the top of the key cut the Bearcat deficit to two. And Pritzl hit yet another trey from near the same spot, putting LU back on top 69-68 with 5:29 to go.
Webber's three-point play increased the Blue and Gold's lead to 72-68 with 4:16 left. Pritzl's free throws gave Lander a 74-70 advantage with 2:50 remaining.
Daemen missed a pair of 3-point attempts as the Bearcats grabbed a defensive rebound confirmed by an official review as LU led 74-71 with 1:21 left.
The Wildcats got a steal, but Zach Philipkoski missed the front end of a one-and-one rebounded by Daniels with 41 seconds to go.
After an LU timeout with 26 seconds left, Daniels lobbed an inbounds pass to Crawford who missed the shot but was fouled and made both free throws making it 76-71 with 26 ticks to go.
Justin Glover's 3-pointer from the left wing cut Daemen's deficit to 76-74 with 18 seconds left.
The Bearcats failed to get the ball inbounds cleanly, turning the ball back over to Daemen. Glover missed a game-tying shot attempt, a teammate grabbed an offensive rebound, but Moore stole a deflected pass in the paint.
Moore was fouled and made one free throw for the game's final point. Philipkoski's desperation full-court heave went over the backboard at the buzzer.
