LAKELAND, FLA. — Opening weekend of the 2022-23 DII men’s basketball season is in the books. Four teams — Northwest Missouri State, Nova Southeastern, Florida Southern and Hillsdale — escaped the absolutely loaded field at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic with 2-0 records.
After sitting courtside for hours of high-level basketball from NCAA DII tournament regulars, let’s take an early look at some lessons learned.
Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic results
Saturday, Nov. 5 – Florida Southern College, George W. Jenkins Field House
- Hillsdale 64, DBU 57
- Nova Southeastern 101, Alabama-Huntsville 81
- Lincoln Memorial 108, Valdosta State 80
- Florida Southern 96, Flagler 80
- Northwest Missouri State 78, West Texas A&M 62
Sunday, Nov. 6
- Alabama-Huntsville 83, Lincoln Memorial 81
- Nova Southeastern 95, DBU 65
- Hillsdale 79, Valdosta State 65
- Florida Southern 92, West Texas A&M 90
- Northwest Missouri State 88, Flagler 75
RANKINGS: Here’s Wayne Cavadi’s Preseason Power 10 rankings
What we learned in Lakeland
1. Florida Southern can straight up ball
Florida Southern, the weekend’s host team, didn’t simply come out of the tournament a surprising 2-0; the Mocs appear to be an offensive juggernaut with a lot of weapons. Coming into the season, we knew EJ Dambreville was a special player, but it was Wes Bongiorni, Jadin Booth and Dominick Denny that came alive and make this team dangerous.
“Yeah, I was really happy,” head coach Mike Donnelly said. “I said to my assistants we’re going to need our sophomore class — I think we have seven sophomores — to really take that next step. We certainly saw that. If we’re going to have a good year, we need that group of guys. The most important thing was for them to gain that confidence, because their roles are elevated, but to see them play with a lot of poise and confidence, it was a really good sign for us.”
All three were put into expanded roles this season, and the trio delivered, combining for 57 of the 96 points on opening night. Booth was simply a scoring machine all weekend, dropping 28 in the opener and 25 in the stunner over West Texas A&M. The Mocs came out of the weekend against two DII tournament teams averaging 94 points per game, and while it’s a small sample size, it’s quite the improvement on the 81.4 points scored last season. Booth’s big weekend propelled the hot start and earned him tournament MVP honors.
“I wasn’t expecting to go for…
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