CLEVELAND --
Xavier Ford and
Shannon Evans scored 18 points apiece as Buffalo, coached by March Madness icon Bobby Hurley, earned its first trip to the NCAA Tournament by beating top-seeded Central Michigan 89-84 in the Mid-American Conference championship on Saturday night.
The second-seeded Bulls (23-9) earned their first league title and the automatic NCAA bid that comes with it. They're in the brackets along with Hurley, their fiery coach and former Duke point guard, who led the Blue Devils to three straight Final Fours and consecutive national titles in 1991 and 1992.
Chris Fowler scored 27 points for the top-seeded Chippewas (23-8), who won just three conference games and were the No. 11 seed a year ago.
Lamonte Bearden added 13 points for Buffalo, playing in its third MAC title game. Buffalo won its first crown despite getting just 10 points from Justin Moss, the MAC's player of the year slowed by an ankle injury.
