SAVANNAH, Ga. —
Savannah State's journey to an NCAA Division II National Championship title will continue on Saturday afternoon when the Tigers travel to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to face Nova Southeastern in the first round of the NCAA Division II South Regional.
The game between SSU, the No. 8 seed, and the top-seeded Sharks will tip off at 5 p.m. at Rick Case Arena.
In their first and only meeting, Nova Southeastern defeated Savannah State 113-63 in the first round of the NCAA South Regional on March 13, 2022.
In that game, then freshmen
Ayjay Plain finished with 13 points, two assists, two rebounds and one steal and
Austin Lewis had three points.
Savannah State secured a spot in the 2025 tournament by winning the SIAC Men’s Basketball Championship with victories over Spring Hill, Miles, Central State and Tuskegee.
It will be the Tigers’ fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The 1978-79 Tigers defeated Albany in the first round of the tournament, then fell to Centre in the second round. The 1979-80 Tigers beat UNC-Greensboro in the first round but fell to Lane in the second. The 1980-81 team beat Rose-Hulman and Southwestern (now Rhodes College) for the regional title, but lost to Otterbein in overtime in the national quarterfinals.
Savannah State (18-11) enters the tournament riding an eight-game winning streak, its longest since winning nine consecutive games during the 2017-18 season.
SSU averages 65.2 points per game while allowing 62.3 points per contest, ranking third in Division II.
The Tigers rank No. 12 nationally in turnovers forced per game (18.41), No. 16 in field goal percentage defense (41.1), No. 18 in 3-point percentage defense (30.5) and turnover margin (4.2), and No. 26 in steals per game (9.7).
Plain, who recently earned BOXTOROW HBCU Division II Second Team All-American honors, averages 12.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.1 steals per game for Savannah State.
Qua King, who was named the MVP of the SIAC Tournament adds 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
Jeremiah Barze contributes 10.3 points and 3.1 rebounds a game and
Javonte Landy chips in 9.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.9 steals per game.
Seven Tigers hail from Florida, including interim head coach
Clevan Thompson, a Belle Glade native. Director of Athletics
Opio Mashariki attended Bethune-Cookman, Assistant AD for Media Relations
Joshua Jackson is from Jacksonville and attended Florida A&M, and Defensive Assistant
Randall Moss is also a Jacksonville native.
Nova Southeastern (30-1) leads Division II in scoring, averaging 105.2 points per game while allowing 80.5.
The Sharks have won 81 consecutive home games, a Division II record.
Nova Southeastern is led by MJ Iraldi (24.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 2.1 steals), Ryker Cisarik (18.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.5 steals), Ross Reeves (13.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.6 steals), Dallas Graziani (12.7 points, 2.4 rebounds, 9.7 assists, 2.5 steals) and Tyler Eberhart (12.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.4 steals).
Savannah State and Nova Southeastern have three common opponents in Florida Southern, St. Leo and Embry-Riddle. Nova Southeastern competes in the Sunshine State Conference.
The Tigers beat Embry-Riddle but lost to Florida Southern and Saint Leo, while Nova Southeastern beat all three teams.
2025 NCAA DIVISION II TOURNAMENT SOUTH REGION – FIRST ROUND
Matchup: Savannah State (No. 8) vs. Nova Southeastern (No. 1)
Date: Saturday, March 15, at 5 p.m. EDT
Location: Rick Case Arena at Don Taft University Center
Address: SW 75th Ave, Davie, FL 33314
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Postgame Press Conference
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ABOUT THE SOUTHERN INTERCOLLEGIATE ATHLETIC CONFERENCE (SIAC)
The SIAC is a NCAA athletic conference consisting primarily of historically black colleges and universities with headquarters in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SIAC includes 15 member institutions (Albany State University, Allen University, Benedict College, Central State University, Clark Atlanta University, Edward Waters University, Fort Valley State University, Kentucky State University, Lane College, LeMoyne-Owen College, Miles College, Morehouse College, Savannah State University, Spring Hill College, and Tuskegee University), which are located within a contiguous seven-state footprint (Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee and Ohio). The SIAC sponsors nine men's and seven women's sports and is a proud member of the NCAA Division II. For more information, visit
www.thesiac.com.