Assumption's second-half charge can't catch top-seeded Nova Southeastern at NCAA Division 2 Elite Eight

The Assumption men's basketball team made a stunning three-game run through the NCAA Division 2 regionals to earn their first Elite Eight berth in 50 years.

Another possible three games faced the Greyhounds in Evansville, Indiana. But the Shark attack was too much in Tuesday's Day 1 matchup.

Eighth-seeded Assumption fell to top seed Nova Southeastern, 102-93, at the Ford Center, but not before presenting a second-half rally after slipping behind by as many 25 points. The Sharks (34-1) extended their winning streak to 21 while advancing to a national semifinal.

The Greyhounds finished 22-10, in a season highlighted by an 11-game winning streak carrying into the Northeast-10 schedule, and of course, wins over Southern New Hampshire, Dominican and St. Thomas in suburban Buffalo last week to capture the regional championship and move on to a national quarterfinal.

Zamareon McCown led Assumption with 21 points, netting 16 in the second half, as five Hounds scored in double figures. Njavan Stewart netted 19 points, Tayeshawn Cunningham-Pemberton added 14, and Jamal Barnes and Kyle Hicks each had 11. Leonard Tangishaka (4 points) dealt eight assists.

Four Sharks scored 20 or more — Tyler Eberhart with 24 points, Dallas Graziani and MJ Iraldi with 22 each and Ryker Cisarik with 20.

Nova Southeastern, which led by 20 at halftime, remained in command early after intermission. That was before Assumption put together a 13-2 spurt, with McCown netting nine, to draw within 73-62 with 12:01 left, which was followed by a NSU shot-clock violation.

A Stewart 3-pointer brought the Hounds within double figures at 73-65 with 11:18 on the clock. Assumption wasn't going away.

McCown's basket with 8:44 to play kept the Greyhounds within 79-70, before NSU scored the next five points and 10 of the next 13.

The Greyhounds had one last gasp in the final moments. McCown converted a layup with 2:22 left to keep Assumption within 10, and Hicks' 3-pointer with 96 seconds to play trimmed NSU's lead to 97-88.

Two McCown free throws with 55 seconds left had the pesky Hounds within 98-90, but the Sharks' Graziani swished two from the line 10 seconds later.

With 32 seconds showing, Hicks drained another 3, clipping the deficit to seven. NSU's Iraldi hit two from the line 4 seconds later for the final.

Daouda Dembele's layup 20 seconds into the game and another 1:19 in gave the Greyhounds a 4-0 lead, before NSU heated up.

The Sharks led 14-7, until McCown hit a 3-pointer and Dembele another bucket to make it 14-12 with 14:57 on the clock.

But over the next 2:05, NSU went on a 12-2 spurt to extend the advantage to double figures. The run scaled to 21-4, and Nova Southeastern led, 35-16, with 8:17 left in the half.

Assumption really couldn't cut into the deficit, and Ryan Davis' layup at the buzzer gave the Sharks a 56-36 halftime lead. Nova Southeastern then netted the first five points of the second half to hike the gap to 25.

The Greyhounds were limited to 35.1% shooting, 13 of 37 for the first 20 minutes. Stewart, however, connected on 3 of 4, both from behind the arc, and finished with 10 points at intermission. NSU had four scorers in double figures at half.