STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Becht – 18 points (4-11 FG, 3-9 3-FG, 7-8 FT), 2 assists
• Senior Noah Kamba (Lynn, Mass.) – 12 points (4-7 FG, 4-5 3-FG), 2 assists
• Junior Paul Greene (Freeport, Bahamas) – season-high 10 points (3-5 FG, 4-6 FT), 4 rebounds

KEY MOMENTS

• Nine points from Becht keyed a 14-5 run for Southern New Hampshire over the opening 5:44. SNHU led, 22-11, following a 3-pointer from junior Kurtis Henderson (Brockton, Mass.) with 9:22 to go in the first half, but eight straight from Nova Southeastern trimmed its deficit to 22-19 with 6:53 remaining. The Penmen responded with a 15-5 run – led by four from Greene and supported by three each from Becht, Kamba and Henderson – to grab a 37-24 advantage with 2:18 left. SNHU took its largest lead of the half at 42-27 with 24 seconds on the clock and went into the break ahead, 42-28.
• A Kamba triple just 57 seconds into the second half gave SNHU its largest lead of the contest at 45-28. The lead was 47-31 nearly two minutes later when a 16-2 blitz from NSU slashed the margin to just a pair at 49-47 with 11:03 remaining. Five straight for the Penmen, including another Kamba trey, extended the lead to seven at 54-47 just past the midway point of the frame, but the Sharks made another push, scoring nine straight to seize a 56-54 advantage with 6:09 on the clock. The big play during the sequence came with SNHU up, 54-51, with just under seven minutes left. A foul that would have sent Becht to the line to potentially make it a five-point game was not called and, instead, resulted in a turnover that led to a game-tying 3-pointer.
• The score was even at 56-all when an NSU bucket with 3:17 to play snapped the deadlock, gave the Sharks the lead for good and sparked a game-ending 12-4 run that put it away.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Henderson tallied eight points (3-8 FG, 2-5 3-FG), four rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• Junior Jordan Brathwaite (Silver Spring, Md.) posted seven points (3-7 FG, 1-3 3-FG) and seven boards.
• Senior Preston Santos (Providence, R.I.) registered three points (1-2 FG, 1-2 3-FG) and six rebounds.
• Junior Derrick Grant Jr. (Plainfield, N.J.) added two points (1-4 FG) and four rebounds.
• SNHU led for 32:33 of the 40 minutes (81.4 percent).
• Southern New Hampshire outshot Nova Southeastern, 40.4 percent (19-47) to 32.7 percent (18-55), including 40.7 percent (11-27) to 22.2 percent (4-18) from beyond the arc.
• SNHU outshot NSU, 59 percent (13-22) to 25 percent (8-32), in the first half, including 60 percent (9-15) to 16.7 percent (2-12) from deep.
• The Sharks were plus-17 from the line and narrowly shot it better, 73.7 percent (28-38) to 73.3 percent (11-15).
• The 26 fouls called on the Penmen were the most in a game since they committed 29 in a 104-93 overtime loss against Saint Anselm College on Nov. 26, 2019.
• The Sharks captured the paint (28-14) and the glass (38-33), scored more points off turnovers (27-5), second chance points (9-6) and on the fast break (12-0), received more scoring from their bench (31-17) and featured a better assist-to-turnover ratio (9/11-10/21).

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire, which entered the contest on a 10-game win streak and with a program-best seven consecutive postseason victories, finished with 24 wins for the first time since 2014-15 (24-8), which is also the last time the Penmen reached the Elite Eight.
• The Penmen dip to 31-22 (.585) all-time in the NCAA Championship, including 2-8 (.200) in their eighth Elite Eight.
• SNHU still leads the all-time series with Nova Southeastern, 2-1. This was the first postseason meeting between the two teams, who had not met since Dec. 29, 2000.
• Nova Southeastern, the defending NCAA Division II National Champions, entered the contest with a record of 97-3 over the last three seasons, having captured three Sunshine State Conference titles and three NCAA South Region crowns.
• SNHU limited NSU, which came in averaging 101.7 points per game this season, to 68 points, which is the Sharks' lowest output of the season and fewest points they scored since suffering a 77-67 loss to Black Hills State University on March 22, 2022 in the NCAA Division II Championship National Quarterfinals.