Welcome to the 2025 DII men's basketball championship game where there are storylines aplenty. For the second consecutive year, one school will play for both the men's and women's national championship. Last year, Minnesota State topped both the men's and women's basketball worlds, and this year, Cal State Dominguez Hills has the chance to do the same. Conversely, Nova Southeastern is the second-straight program to reach the championship game three years in a row after Northwest Missouri State reached the pinnacle in 2019 and then again in 2021-22 (remember, there was no championship in 2020).
The stage is set. In one corner, you have one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time and the newest powerhouse in DII men's basketball. On the other side, you have the newbies — a program that has made history with every shot and has shown that no deficit is too large to overcome.
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The DII men's basketball championship: How to watch
The final game of the 2024-25 DII men's basketball season tips off Saturday, March 29 at 3 p.m. ET from the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. You can watch on CBS or follow the scoring right here on sifoeeprocess.com.
Nova Southeastern vs. Cal State Dominguez Hills: By the Numbers
| Stat (per game unless noted) | Sharks | Toros |
|---|---|---|
| Season record | 35-1 | 30-5 |
| Points | 102.5 | 77.7 |
| Points allowed | 79.5 | 69.9 |
| Rebounds | 42.4 | 37.9 |
| Assists | 23.7 | 14.3 |
| Steals | 11.9 | 7.8 |
| FG percentage | 51.5% | 45.1% |
| Opponents FG percentage | 44.2% | 41.8% |
Sharks vs. Toros: What to know
What is there to say about Nova Southeastern that hasn't been said. The Sharks have one loss this season and they did that against the toughest schedule in all DII men's basketball. As usual, their offense leads DII in scoring with more than 100 points per game and is either the DII leader or among the top 10 in most categories like scoring margin, assists, steals, rebounds, and field-goal percentage. They have three Bevo Francis Award candidates in the final 25 and are simply a fine-tuned machine.
Head coach Jim Crutchfield is among the best to do it at any level of college basketball. Since he arrived at Nova Southeastern for the 2018-19 season, the Sharks have made all but one trip to the DII Men's Elite Eight. During their three-year run to the championship game, they have four combined losses. His two top assistants are the 2023 Bevo Francis Award winner RJ Sunahara and the program's all-time steals leader Nick Smith. Even their coaching staff is next level.
On the floor, MJ Iraldi is already having a historic season, with his 846 points the most in a single season at Nova Southeastern. Feeding him the ball is Dallas Graziani, arguably the best at his position in DII, who is breaking his assistant coach Smith's single-season assist record with 331 (and counting). Ryker Cisarik is a force in the paint and every one of the starting five scores at least 12 points per game.
All that makes it sound like Cal State Dominguez Hills doesn't stand a chance, right? Don't tell the Toros that, because they won't believe it, and neither should you. While we do have a classic David vs. Goliath showdown here, the resilience the Toros have shown gives them plenty of reason to have a chance even against the mighty Sharks.
Look at what the Toros have done in Evansville thus far. In the quarterfinals, against another potent offense in West Liberty, the Toros trailed by 17 points with just over 17 minutes left on the clock. When a West Liberty team has 60 points with 17 minutes to go, another 100-point game is all but certain. But the Toros clamped down, held the Hilltoppers to 84 points, wiped out that monster deficit and won by two. It was like deja vu all over again in the semifinals: The Toros trailed by 19 against DBU — a top 10 team the entire season — and like the Hilltoppers' game, erased that huge deficit, but this time completely took over, dominating the final eight minutes of play and winning by 11.
This team simply doesn't back down, no matter how much of an underdog they are. Jeremy Dent-Smith is the driver of the Toros' charge, making big shot after big shot, and is the team leader in points, assists and steals. Guys like Alex Garcia have been a bit quiet in the tournament but hit a huge shot in the semifinals' comeback showing that big plays can come from a wide array of places on this team. For example, it wasn't Dent-Smith that was the CCAA tournament MVP — the Toros' first CCAA tournament title in 14 years — but Jordan Hilstock, with Adam Afifi contributing a big double-double in the victory.
Nova Southeastern vs. Cal State Dominguez Hills: Who takes home the hardware?
The Toros are one of the best stories in DII basketball. The men's and women's team are the first in CCAA history to pull the clean sweep with SIX titles (the CCAA regular season title, the CCAA tournament title and the West Region title). It seems like the programs are destined to make it eight. But Nova Southeastern is a powerhouse and was literally a few ticks of the clock from being back-to-back national champions last year. When Nova Southeastern entered the Elite Eight undefeated in 2022 and were upset by the No. 8 seed, the Sharks took it to heart and came back angry, ran the table, and won their first national championship in program history a year later. This is a team that doesn't forget. The Sharks are bitter over that buzzer-beater last year and are going to leave no doubt this time around.
Prediction: Nova Southeastern 96, Cal State Dominguez Hills 81
