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 was 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 (who thought we could win), 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. Crawford and Maise each had two blocked shots.
"Congratulations to Nova Southeastern on a phenomenal season," Wattad said in the post-game press conference. "They are elite and they are a classy group of young men. I am really proud of our guys. We persevered from minute one to minute 40. You have to stay locked in. Our guys from the jump were fully focused, stayed level headed during their runs, stayed level headed during our runs.
"People think this is some sort of Cinderella story because last year we were 16-15," Wattad continued. "We have been in three of the last four NCAA Tournaments. We have been to two of the last three Sweet 16s. The guys in the locker room really expected this to happen (to beat Daemen and Nova Southeastern). There was no fear. We expected to be here."
Pritzl said of his 25 points, "My teammates did a great job breaking the press. They found me. I hit my first shot of the game. The bucket looks bigger. Just shooting the shots that were open. Teammates trusted me."
Canoville was particularly excited about beating Nova Southeastern.
"I was thinking Nova Southeastern is 10 minutes from my house (in Florida)," he said. "I wanted to go there after transferring from Jackson State. But they didn't want me. It was a revenge party for me."
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 from the top of the key to give LU a 27-22 lead. 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.
"I could see it in their eyes. They were still focused. They were not afraid (after the tie)," Wattad said.
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 at 73-60.
Lander extended its advantage to 78-66 with just over five minutes to play. The Sharks scored five unanswered points, all on free throws, to pull within 78-71. But the freshman Daniels drained a 3-pointer and added a driving finger roll layup, giving LU an 83-71 lead with 3:41 to go.
Nova Southeastern made one final push, trimming the deficit to six in the closing minute. But 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.
"It's hard for me to put it into words right now," Wattad said of reaching the championship game. "I definitely can't say that I thought we would be here back in November. We were just trying to get better daily. It's amazing. We are fortunate to be here. But it's earned. It's deserved. I am happy for Lander University. I am happy for Greenwood, South Carolina."
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.
