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Saint Mary's tops Gonzaga, wins WCC

WEST COAST CONFERENCE

LAS VEGAS -- Saint Mary's ended the nation's longest winning streak and Gonzaga's six-year reign as West Coast Conference Tournament champions, grinding out a 60-47 victory in the title game Tuesday night.

"We were told to pull off a miracle by people who don't know us," said Saint Mary's guard Jordan Hunter, who had 12 points and 15 rebounds. "We didn't need a miracle. We knew we could beat them."

The Gaels (22-11) held Gonzaga's leading scorer Rui Hachimura in check and limited the Bulldogs (30-3) to 2-of-17 shooting from three-point range to end the nation's longest winning streak at 21 games. Hachimura was held to nine points. Brandon Clark led Gonzaga with 16 points.

Gonzaga's 18-game WCC tournament winning streak, dating to the 2012 title game, also came to an end, and so too could its bid for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Jordan Ford had 17 points and Tanner Krebs scored 13 for the Gaels.

"The way we did it, from where we were at the beginning of the year until now, I get a lot of satisfaction out of that," Saint Mary's Coach Randy Bennett said.

The Bulldogs were held to a season-low in points and 37-percent shooting. Gonzaga had six assists after finishing with 26 in the WCC semifinals against Pepperdine.

"It was our worst offensive game of the year and give them credit for that," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.

Gonzaga dominated the WCC during the regular season, finishing 16-0 while winning by a conference-record 27 points per game.

Two of those victories came against Saint Mary's: 66-55 in Moraga and 94-46 in Spokane.

HORIZON

NORTHERN KENTUCKY 77, WRIGHT STATE 66

DETROIT -- Dantez Walton had 15 points and 14 rebounds, leading second-seeded Northern Kentucky past top-seeded Wright State in the Horizon League Tournament final and into the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years.

Jalen Tate scored 17 points for the Norse (26-8).

The Raiders (21-13) were led by reserve Bill Wampler, who had 16 points.

CAA

NORTHEASTERN 82, HOFSTRA 74

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Vasa Pusica had 21 points, all on three-pointers, and Northeastern defeated top-seeded Hofstra to win the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament.

The second-seeded Huskies (23-10) won the league's automatic NCAA Tournament berth for the second time in five seasons.

The Pride (26-8) were led by the nation's second-leading scorer, Justin Wright-Foreman, who finished with 29 points.

NORTHEAST

FAIRLEIGH DICKINSON 85,

ST. FRANCIS (PA.) 76

LORETTO, Pennsylvania -- Darnell Edge scored 21 points, Kaleb Bishop and Jahlil Jenkins added 20 points apiece, and Fairleigh Dickinson (20-13) earned its second trip to the NCAA Tournament in four years with a victory over St. Francis (Pa.) (18-14) in the Northeastern Conference Tournament championship.

Jamaal King led St. Francis with 21 points and eight assists. Isaiah Blackmon finished with 13 points, but the Red Flash made just 4 of 17 free throws while Fairleigh Dickinson converted 18 of 20 at the line.

SUMMIT

NORTH DAKOTA STATE 73, NEBRASKA-OMAHA 63

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) -- Vinnie Shahid scored 20 of his 22 points after halftime, and North Dakota State (17-15) beat Nebraska-Omaha (21-10) in the Summit League Tournament title game to earn its first NCAA Tournament bid since 2015.

The No. 4-seeded Bison also got 15 points and seven rebounds from Tyson Ward.

Mitch Hahn scored 16 points and Zach Jackson had 15 for Nebraska-Omaha.

At a glance

NCAA Automatic Bids

Men

BRADLEY, Missouri Valley

Fairleigh Dickinson, Northeast

GARDNER-WEBB, Big South

IONA, Metro Atlantic Athletic

LIBERTY, Atlantic Sun

MURRAY STATE, Ohio Valley

Northeastern, Colonial Athletic Assoc.

Northern Kentucky, Horizon League

SAINT MARY'S (CALIF.) West Coast

WOFFORD, Southern

Women

BAYLOR, Big 12

BELMONT, Ohio Valley

BRIGHAM YOUNG, West Coast

CONNECTICUT, American Athletic

FORDHAM, Atlantic 10

IOWA, Big Ten

MERCER, Southern

MISSISSIPPI STATE, SEC

NOTRE DAME, Atlantic Coast

QUINNIPIAC, Metro Atlantic Athletic

SOUTH DAKOTA STATE, Summit League

STANFORD, Pacific-12

WRIGHT STATE, Horizon League

photo

AP/JOHN LOCHER

Jordan Hunter (bottom) of Saint Mary’s celebrates and his teammates react after making a basket during the second half of the Gaels’ 60-47 victory over top-ranked Gonzaga to win the West Coast Conference Tournament championship in Las Vegas.

Sports on 03/13/2019

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