PATRIOT LEAGUE

Low-seed Lafayette holds off American

Lafayette guard Nick Lindner (11) attempts a layup against American during the first half of the NCAA college basketball game in the Patriot League championship at Lafayette in Easton, Pa., Wednesday, March 11, 2015.
Lafayette guard Nick Lindner (11) attempts a layup against American during the first half of the NCAA college basketball game in the Patriot League championship at Lafayette in Easton, Pa., Wednesday, March 11, 2015.

LAFAYETTE 65, AMERICAN 63

EASTON, Pa. -- Nick Lindner scored 25 points and Lafayette held off several second-half runs by American to win the Patriot League tournament title with a 65-63 victory over the Eagles on Wednesday night.

The fourth-seeded Leopards (20-12) became the lowest seed to win the league tournament title -- and its automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament -- in its 25-year history.

After defending champion and sixth-seeded American (17-16) took 55-53 lead on Marko Vasic's three-point play with 5:07 left, the Lafayette got consecutive three-pointers from Seth Hinrichs and Zach Rufer to regain the lead for good.

With Lafayette up 61-60, Lindner hit a driving shot with 38 seconds left. After American's John Schoof missed a 3, Lindner hit two free throws to seal it.

Lindner, a sophomore point guard, was named tournament MVP. Hinrichs added 16 points.

Vasic finished with 15 points to lead the Eagles.

Lafayette opened up its biggest lead at 40-27 early in the second half on consecutive three-pointers by Bryce Scott and Michael Hoffman, but American responded with seven in a row to pull within six on Pee Wee Gardner's basket with 15:47 remaining.

Lafayette then led 48-36 after three consecutive pull-up jumpers by Hinrichs, but American scored nine consecutive points to pull to 50-47 with less than 9 minutes left.

Lindner scored 16 points in the first half to give Lafayette a 34-25 lead at the break.

American had nine field goals and 10 turnovers in the first 20 minutes.

The Eagles led until Lindner hit an open three-pointer from the top of the key to give the Leopards a 17-15 lead with 10:45 to go in the first half. Lafayette led the rest of the half.

Lafayette, which made 13 of 19 shots (68.4 percent) in the opening half, had runs of 11-0 and 7-0 to create a little cushion. Lindner's drive with 1:40 remaining gave the Leopards their biggest lead of the half at 30-21.

BIG TEN

MINNESOTA 80, RUTGERS 68

CHICAGO -- Joey King hit six three-pointers and scored 20 to lead Minnesota to an 80-68 victory over Rutgers in the first round of the Big Ten tournament on Wednesday.

The 11th-seeded Golden Gophers (18-14) broke open a tight game on a 22-8 spurt midway through in the second half. King and Charles Buggs highlighted the blitz with 3 three-pointers in a span of 53 seconds.

After King extended the lead to 43-38 at the seven-minute mark, Buggs buried another three-pointer 18 seconds later. Rutgers' Junior Etou followed with a pair free throws, then King hit a three-pointer to give his team a 49-40 advantage.

Carlos Morris scored 16 points for the Golden Gophers, while Nate Mason added 15 more.

Minnesota (18-14) shot 52 percent in the field and scored 42 points in the paint. The Golden Gophers will meet Ohio State tonight.

Kadeem Jack led Rutgers (10-22) with 18 points.

In another Big Ten tournament game Wednesday, D.J. Newbill scored 26 points, Shep Garner added 19 and Penn State hung on to beat Nebraska 68-65.

ATLANTIC COAST

N.C. STATE 81, PITTSBURGH 70

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Anthony "Cat" Barber scored a career-high 34 points to help North Carolina State beat Pittsburgh in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament.

Trevor Lacey added 21 points for the seventh-seeded Wolfpack (20-12), who reached the 20-victory mark for the fourth time in as many seasons under Mark Gottfried.

As it has all season, the playmaking backcourt led N.C. State and caused headaches for the 10th-seeded Panthers, whether it was Barber going wherever he wanted with the ball or Lacey knocking in tough shot after tough shot.

N.C. State shot 53 percent to earn its second double-digit victory this season against Pitt (19-14), a victory that will only help an already-solid looking NCAA tournament resume that includes victories against Duke, Louisville and North Carolina.

Now the Wolfpack gets another shot against the No. 2 Blue Devils in the quarterfinals.

In other Atlantic Coast tournament games Wednesday, Sheldon McClellan scored 16 points and Miami beat Virginia Tech 59-49. ... Brice Johnson scored 17 points to help No. 19 North Carolina beat Boston College 81-63. ... Xavier Rathan-Mayes scored 30 points and Florida State held on for a wild 76-73 victory over Clemson.

BIG EAST

MARQUETTE 78, SETON HALL 56

NEW YORK -- Matt Carlino had all but two of his 26 points on three-pointers and ninth-seeded Marquette had its best game of the season from beyond the arc in a victory over eighth-seeded Seton Hall in the opening round of the Big East tournament.

Carlino was 8 for 12 from three-point range as the Golden Eagles (13-18) finished 13 for 22, just the second time this season they shot better than 50 percent from long range.

Marquette faces top-seeded and fourth-ranked Villanova in the quarterfinals today.

Luke Fischer had 14 points and Duane Wilson added 13 for Marquette. Derrick Wilson had seven points and a career-high 14 assists for the Golden Eagles, who led 35-22 at halftime and went up by as many as 27 points in the second half.

Isaiah Whitehead had 12 points for Seton Hall (16-15), which has lost nine of 10.

PAC-12

CAL 84, WASHINGTON STATE 59

LAS VEGAS -- David Kravish missed his first six shots against Washington State but rarely missed again as Cal posted a decisive victory in the opening round of the Pac-12 tournament.

Kravish scored a career-high 25 points, and the No. 8 seeded Bears (18-14) won for just the second time in the past seven games. It was their first victory in three tries since the Pac-12 event was moved to the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

Kravish made 10 of 11 shots after his early misfiring's and had six field goals during an 11-minute stretch spanning the two halves in which the Bears shot 14 of 15.

Cal shot 58.5 percent for the game, including 68 percent in the second half. The Bears were 8 for 12 from the three-point arc, outscored WSU 42-30 in the paint and got a 17-3 lift from their bench.

Led by Kravish's eight rebounds, Cal also dominated the taller Cougars (13-18) on the boards, forging a 37-22 rebounding edge.

In other PAC-12 tournament games Wednesday, Josh Scott had 16 points and 14 rebounds, Askia Booker added 20 points and Colorado pulled away for a 78-71 victory over Oregon State. ... Elijah Stewart scored 27 points and hit two free throws with 3.4 seconds left after a big block by Nikola Jovanovic, helping Southern California rally for a 67-64 victory over Arizona State.

MOUNTAIN WEST

UNLV 67, NEVADA 46

LAS VEGAS -- Christian Wood scored 28 points on 9-of-13 shooting to help seventh-seeded UNLV beat No. 10 seed Nevada in the opening round of the Mountain West Conference tournament.

Jordan Cornish added 13 points, including 3 three-pointers, for UNLV (18-14), which will play second-seeded San Diego State in the quarterfinals Friday.

The Runnin' Rebels used a 12-3 run to close the first half and led 27-17 at the break.

Eric Cooper Jr.'s three-pointer with 10:24 remaining pulled Nevada (9-22) within three, but the Wolf Pack would get no closer.

Jelan Kendrick and Cornish hit back-to-back three-pointers and Wood scored six points during a 15-1 spurt that gave UNLV a 63-45 advantage with 90 seconds to play.

Cooper led Nevada, which shot a season-low 28.8 percent (15 of 52) from the field, with 10 points. AJ West had 18 rebounds, including 12 offensive, and became the MWC single-season leader in both categories.

Nevada coach David Carter was fired after the game following losing records in four of the last five seasons.

In another Mountain West tournament game Wednesday, Zach Kocur scored 20 points with 4 three-pointers and No. 9 seed Air Force beat eighth-seeded New Mexico 68-61.

ATLANTIC 10

FORDHAM 71, GEORGE MASON 65

NEW YORK -- Christian Sengfelder scored a season-high 27 points and Fordham beat George Mason in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 tournament for the second consecutive year.

The 12th-seeded Rams (10-20) advance to the second round to face fifth-seeded VCU today.

Sengfelder, a freshman from Germany, was 10 for 13 from the field. Mandell Thomas added 13 points.

The 13th-seeded Patriots (9-22) finished their fourth season under Coach Paul Hewitt by losing 15 of 18 games. Marquise Moore and Isaiah Jackson led George Mason with 18 points each.

The Patriots cut the lead to two with three and half minutes left in the second half, but Sengfelder scored down low and Thomas made a steal and dunk that put Fordham up 60-54 with 2:52 left.

Fordham used a 6-0 run to close the first half and grab a 34-28 lead. Sengfelder had 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting.

In another Atlantic 10 tournament game Wednesday, Micah Mason had 19 points and eight rebounds and Duquesne beat Saint Louis 61-55 to end the Billikens' first-to-worst season.

CONFERENCE USA

WESTERN KENTUCKY 59, MARSHALL 45

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Ben Lawson converted a three-point play as fifth-seeded Western Kentucky began a 10-0 run to break away from No. 12 seed Marshall and claim a victory in the opening round of the Conference USA tournament.

They were Lawson's only points but came at a handy time, with 6:56 remaining, after Marshall had closed to 46-41 on a Vince DeBoykin layup.

Western Kentucky (20-11) will play fourth-seeded UAB (16-15) Thursday. The Hilltoppers, playing in their first Conference USA tournament, notched their 43rd 20-victory season and must win four games in four days to make the NCAA tourney, a feat the Hilltoppers accomplished in 2012 and 2013 in the Sun Belt.

Chris Harrison-Docks led with 18 points, T.J. Price added 13 and Trency Jackson 11.

Western Kentucky led from start to finish, but Marshall (11-21) stayed close until the final seven minutes. JP Kambola led with 12 points.

In other Conference USA tournament games Wednesday, Dennis Mavin scored 15, including a game-winning, half-court heave as time expired, to lift Florida International over seventh-seeded Texas-San Antonio. ... Perrin Buford had 11 of his 14 points in the second half Wednesday and Middle Tennessee held off a late rally to beat Charlotte 63-60. ... Marcus Jackson sank 4 three-pointers and finished with 28 points to lead ninth-seeded Rice to an 82-54 victory over No. 8 seed North Texas.

MID-AMERICAN

EASTERN MICHIGAN 73, BOWLING GREEN 67

CLEVELAND -- Raven Lee scored 27, Mike Talley 21 and No. 8 seed Eastern Michigan beat Bowling Green in the Mid-American Conference tournament's second round.

EMU (21-12) closed on a 6-0 run while holding fifth-seeded Bowling Green (20-11) scoreless for the final 4:46. Anthony Henderson scored the Falcons' final points to tie it at 67.

Lee put the Eagles ahead for good with a pair of free throws 13 seconds later. Talley and Olalekan Ajayi added two more free throws each and Eastern Michigan advanced to a third-round matchup with No. 4 seed Toledo today.

Karrington Ward added 15 points and 10 rebounds for EMU, which had 18 offensive rebounds and only seven turnovers to get 14 more field-goal attempts than Bowling Green.

Richaun Holmes and Jehvon Clarke had 18 points each and Zack Denny scored 13 for the Falcons, who lost five of their last eight.

In another Mid-American tournament game Wednesday, Kwan Cheatham Jr. had 11 points and 10 rebounds and Akron beat Western Michigan 58-45.

Sports on 03/12/2015

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