Robert Morris: 2024-25 Horizon Men's Basketball Champions

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Josh Omojafo scored 24 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and Robert Morris beat Youngstown State 89-78 on Tuesday night to claim the Horizon League Tournament championship and clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Robert Morris (26-8) will make its ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament, most recently in 2015 when the Colonials beat North Florida in the First Four before losing to No. 1 seed and eventual champion Duke in the first round.

Omojafo led all five RMU starters in double figures in the scoring column. Kam Woods scored 17 points, Alvaro Folgueiras had 14, Amarion Dickerson 13 and DJ Smith 11.

Robert Morris led the whole way.

Juwan Maxey scored 23 points and Nico Galette added 21 for Youngstown State (21-13).

Robert Morris built an 11-0 lead before the Penguins responded with a 14-6 spurt to get back in it. Maxey’s 3-pointer with 2:22 left before halftime reduced Youngstown State’s deficit to 30-29 and the Colonials led 34-29 at halftime.

Cris Carroll made a 3 to get Youngstown State again within two at 54-52 with 11:23 remaining, but Folgueiras countered with a 3 almost two minutes later and the Penguins never got closer.

Robert Morris created safe distance outscoring the Penguins 11-5 in a four-minute stretch in which Folgueiras, Ryan Prather Jr. and Omojafo each made 3s.

Folgueiras’ 3 with 2:33 left gave Robert Morris its largest lead at 78-65.

Youngstown State is 0-4 in conference tournament championships.

Saint Francis: 2024-25 Northeast Men's Basketball Champions

 

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- Daemar Kelly hit a go-ahead jumper with nine seconds left and Chris Moncrief made 1 of 2 free throws after he stole the ball to help St. Francis (Pa.) stun top-seeded Central Connecticut State 46-43 on Tuesday night to win the Northeastern Conference tournament championship.

It ended the nation's longest active win streak at 14 and earned the Red Flash their second trip to the NCAA tournament.

No. 3 seed St. Francis (16-17) had lost five in a row to the Blue Devils (25-7), including twice this season by a combined 31 points. The Red Flash won their only other conference tournament in 1991. The fourth time was the charm for head coach Rob Krimmel, who lost in three previous trips to the title game in 2017, '19 and '20.

St. Francis freshman Juan Cranford Jr. and Blue Devils' junior Devin Haid both scored 14 and were the only players to reach double figures.

According to ESPN Research, the last time a Division I team won its conference tournament championship without reaching 50 points was Georgia State in the 2015 Sun Belt Conference championship game, when it beat Georgia Southern 38-36.

The two teams played to a 20-20 tie in a cold-shooting first half.

Cranford opened the second half with a 3-pointer, and he hit a jumper to give the Red Flash a 37-33 lead with 9:50 left. Central Connecticut State scored the next four points, but Riley Parker answered with a 3-pointer to put St. Francis up three with 7:20 left.

The Red Flash led by four when Haid made two free throws to end a five-minute scoring drought for the Blue Devils. He missed his next two shots before sinking a jumper to tie it at 41 with 1:42 left. Valentino Pinedo had a go-ahead basket but missed a chance at a three-point play. Joe Ostrowsky tied it for the final time with 17 seconds left. Haid missed a 3-pointer to end it.

UNC Wilmington: 2024-25 Colonial Men's Basketball Champions

 

With his team's season at stake, UNCW basketball point guard Donovan Newby went for reassurance.

Ahead of his two trips to the free-throw line in the final 13 seconds in the CAA championship game on Tuesday night, Newby could be seen talking to himself as he set up for each pair of critical shots.

"I was telling myself, 'You're built for this,'" he said.

Newby coolly drained all four shots, finally pushing back the last chances at an upset by Delaware and sending UNCW back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in eight years. The Seahawks grabbed a 76-72 victory at CareFirst Arena in Washington, D.C., and head back to the Port City, ready to create even more March Madness.

"We could have wilted at any point," coach Takayo Siddle said. "We got through any adversity that was in front of us and got the job done.

"We've experienced two of these where it didn't work out. But we always talk about learning life lessons."

Led by Newby, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, UNCW returns to the NCAA field for the first time since their back-to-back trips in 2016-17. It will learn its opponent during Sunday's NCAA Selection Show, which begins at 6 p.m.

This was the Seahawks' third CAA final in four seasons under Siddle, and they finally broke through.

"We are a program that is prideful," Siddle said. "We have a championship culture, and we always feel like if we don't win it all, we fail. At least I do. ... To be back up top is very special."

No. 2 seed UNCW had as much as a 15-point lead in the first half, but the 12th-seeded Blue Hens ― playing their fifth game in five days ― refused to give in and took a four-point lead with 13:23 to play.

The Seahawks (27-7) were led in scoring by Newby with 17 points as four Seahawks finished in double figures. Newby finished the tournament 18-for-18 from the free-throw line over three games.

Noah Ross had 14 points, Bo Montgomery had 13 and Khamari McGriff had 10. Newby had six of the final seven points for UNCW in the final 35 seconds. Newby was joined on the all-tournament team by Ross and McGriff.

Reigning CAA Freshman of the Year Izaiah Pasha was excellent for Delaware, finishing with 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Delaware (16-20) was attempting to become only the third team to win five games in a conference tournament, and the highest seed to ever win a conference tournament.

UNCW outscored Delaware 32-0 on bench points, as the Hens played only their starters for nearly all of the final 30 minutes of the game.

For the postgame press conference, Siddle was joined by McGriff, the program's only four-year player, as well as Ross, Newby and Nolan Hodge, who've all been here three years. One reporter noted that three of them weren't even starters.

"Our depth is a big weapon for us," Ross said. "Anyone can deliver for us. That's everyone's mindset going into the game."

Gonzaga: 2024-25 West Coast Men's Basketball Champions

 

LAS VEGAS -- Braden Huff scored 18 points and Gonzaga avenged two regular-season losses to Saint Mary's, beating the 19th-ranked Gaels 58-51 in the West Coast Conference tournament championship Tuesday night.

The Bulldogs (25-8) secured the WCC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, though both teams were safely in the field regardless of the outcome.

They got some measure of revenge for losing to the Gaels in last year's title game, which ended Gonzaga's run of four conference championships and 10 of 11. Gonzaga also extended its national record to 18 consecutive 25-win seasons.

"We've had an inordinate amount of one-possession games," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "I think that's why we're such an interesting seed going into this NCAA tournament. I think we were 350th in luck in Kenpom. We've had more banked 3s on us than I could ever, ever remember in my entire career.

"Whether it's law of averages coming through or just a little resiliency ... or maybe it's just desperation by some seniors who don't want this thing to end."

Saint Mary's (28-5) had its seven-game winning streak stopped. But the Gaels, who had won 17 of 18 games, went cold from long range at the wrong time. According to ESPN Research, Saint Mary's finished 0-16 from 3-point range, the first time in 787 games under coach Randy Bennett that the team failed to make a 3-pointer.

Khalif Battle scored 14 points for the Zags, Graham Ike added 11 and Ryan Nembhard had 10.

Mitchell Saxen led Saint Mary's with 20 points but scored only six after halftime. Two-time WCC Player of the Year Augustas Marciulionis finished with 12 points.

"We've had a great year," Bennett said. "We did not play well tonight."

Saint Mary's was attempting to become the first team since San Diego in 1996-97 to beat Gonzaga three times in a season. But Gonzaga entered the game with the higher Kenpom rating, ninth to 22nd for the Gaels, and was a 3½-point favorite at BetMGM Sportsbook.

And the Bulldogs played like favorites. They committed just four turnovers while forcing 18 that included two shot-clock violations in the closing minutes, as they put themselves back on familiar ground.

In fact, according to ESPN Research, Gonzaga has now won the WCC tournament 22 times, including 20 times under Few. Only Kentucky (32), Duke (27) and North Carolina (26) have won more Division I conference tournaments.

Both teams will find out their NCAA tournament seeds and destinations Sunday.

Zenless Misadventures, Day 16

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