North Carolina Tar Heels: 2015-16 ACC Men's Basketball Champions

WASHINGTON -- Thanks to the sort of defensive dominance coach Roy Williams has been seeking, North Carolina's longer-than-usual wait for its latest ACC tournament championship is over.

Now the Tar Heels can turn their focus to returning to their customary results in the NCAAs too.

No. 7 North Carolina held No. 4 Virginia without a field goal for more than 8 minutes in the second half to break open a back-and-forth Atlantic Coast Conference final, and tournament MVP Joel Berry II scored 19 points Saturday night, giving the Tar Heels a 61-57 victory for their first league title since 2008.

Since then, Williams had led the Tar Heels to four ACC finals -- in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015 -- and lost each one. Even Virginia owned a more recent ACC trophy, from 2014.

Marcus Paige added 13 points to help North Carolina (28-6) win its 18th league championship.

Malcolm Brogdon led Virginia (26-7) with 15 points, but the conference player of the year was limited to 6 of 22 on field-goal attempts, 2 of 9 on 3s. In all, Carolina held the Cavs to 37 percent shooting.

Now comes the NCAA tournament and an all-but-certain No. 1 seeding that often feels like a birthright for the kids who wear Carolina blue. UNC hasn't been to the Final Four since winning its second national title under Williams in 2009 -- which would not seem all that long ago for most schools but feels like a lifetime to the folks from Chapel Hill.

Virginia would have been a No. 1 with a victory Saturday, it seems clear, but now who knows where the Cavaliers will end up when the brackets come out Sunday?

Paige only scored four in the first half but he took over at the beginning of the second for UNC, continuing the resurgence he began in Friday's semifinal. So much for his supposed slump. The lithe guard scored nine of 10 points for the Tar Heels in one stretch, including a steal and end-to-end drive for a layup, a jumper as he curled around a screen and a pull-up floater.

Then Berry got going on offense, while the entire Tar Heels squad displayed the sort of defensive toughness and will that Williams has been begging to see consistently.

After Anthony Gill put Virginia ahead 44-40 with a little under 10 minutes left in regulation, the Cavaliers missed their next 12 shots, part of a larger 2-for-20 rut. That allowed UNC to go on a 15-2 run capped by Brice Johnson's putback layup for a 55-46 lead with under 2 minutes to go -- the largest margin for either team.

Virginia would cut it to two in the closing moments, but UNC held on.

It was a similar defensive shutdown to the one North Carolina used to fuel a 24-point run that put away Notre Dame in the semifinals Friday.

These were the top two seeds in the conference tourney -- UNC finished atop the standings, UVA was No. 2 -- and both teams are capable of playing shutdown defense.

Virginia, best known for that aspect of its game, ranks second nationally in opponents' scoring average at a hair under 60 points, while UNC only allowed one foe to shoot better than 50 percent all season and held semifinal opponent Notre Dame scoreless for 9 1/2 minutes.

So not surprisingly, they were quite good at forcing the other into problems on offense right from the outset Saturday.

North Carolina turned the ball over eight times in the first 12 1/2 minutes. Virginia missed its first four shots and started 4 for 13 on field-goal attempts.

All in all, it was evenly matched, high-level basketball. For a half-plus, anyway.

The teams were tied at 28 at halftime, and were each other's equal in various other ways to that point. Each had 14 rebounds. Each had 16 points in the paint. Each held the other under 30 percent on 3-point tries.

Very clean, too: Only six combined fouls were whistled in the opening half, providing the sort of continuity that's a rarity these days in college basketball.

BEEN A WHILE

The previous four ACC titles had been won by a school from outside of the North Carolina center of power: FSU in 2012, Miami in 2013, Virginia in 2014, Notre Dame in 2015. That drought was the longest for that state in league history.

TIP-INS

North Carolina: Now only one behind Duke's ACC record of 19 titles. ... This was the Tar Heels' 34th appearance in an ACC final, most in conference history. ... Over the past 13 years, UNC has appeared in seven ACC finals -- against seven different schools.

Virginia: This was the Cavaliers' eighth ACC final; they beat UNC in 1976 and Duke in 2014. ... Beat North Carolina 79-74 on Feb. 27.

UP NEXT

North Carolina: NCAA tournament.

Virginia: NCAA tournament.

Hampton Pirates: 2015-16 MEAC Men's Basketball Champions

NORFOLK, Va. -- Reginald Johnson Jr. figured experience gave Hampton an advantage in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship game.

The Pirates, after all, won the championship last season, and South Carolina State hadn't made it this far since a loss in 2010.

Still, it took Hampton until the last four minutes to take command.

"What helped us in this situation was the fact that we won it last year," Johnson said after scoring 21 points with eight assists.

The Pirates pulled away from a 67-all tie with a game-ending 14-2 run to claim their sixth tournament championship with an 81-69 win.

"You get that taste in your mouth and you don't want any other taste," Johnson said.

Brian Darden led the Pirates with 22 points, Jervon Pressley added 14 and Quinton Chievous 13 as Hampton avenged a regular season loss to the Bulldogs on their home floor. The difference, both sides agreed, was that Pressley missed the first game, and was a force this time.

"Von just took over in the end," said Chievous, noting that he finished with nine rebounds. "He was the key player to me because he hands down was a monster in my eyes, and him being consistent on the boards and scoring, that just pushed us over."

Johnson had a huge impact, too, leading the finishing surge by repeatedly driving into the lane and scoring or dumping the ball off to Pressley and Chievous.

"I think Reginald is strong," first-year Bulldogs coach Murray Garvin said. "He's strong as three men out there. He just bulled his way in there and he's got great body control. When you can dribble, pass and shoot, that's what every coach wants."

Eric Eaves scored 25 to lead South Carolina State (19-14), which was seeking its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2003.

"These guys have been here before," Garvin said. "You cannot go against experience and make some of the errors we had down the stretch."

The game was tied at 39 at halftime and close until the final stretch. The Bulldogs used a 14-5 run opening the second half to take a 53-44 lead, but Hampton answered with a 15-4 burst to take a 57-55 lead. The margin was no larger than four until the closing run.

"The normal person in here would feel like the pressure was on us," said Pirates coach Edward Joyner Jr., because Hampton was the defending champion and had been the team to beat all season. "We felt like the pressure was on them. You've got to continue to match us."

Chievous put the Pirates ahead to stay with 3:45 to play, and Johnson followed with a pair of free throws. Gabriel McCray got the Bulldogs' only basket of the final four minutes with 2:32 to play. But Johnson scored on a drive, fed Pressley for a basket and the partisan crowd started celebrating at Norfolk's Scope Arena, about 15 miles from the Hampton campus.

TIP INS

S.C. State: The Bulldogs were outscored 27-9 at the free-throw line and outrebounded 39-28. ... Garvin was voted the MEAC coach of the year.

Hampton: The Pirates' bench was outscored 39-14. ... The Pirates have only two players from Virginia -- Johnson and reserve Devon Oakley -- on their roster.

UP NEXT

Hampton will play in the NCAA Tournament.

Middle Tennessee State: 2015-16 Conference USA Men's Basketball Champions

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Reggie Upshaw made two free throws with 2.9 seconds left to lift Middle Tennessee to a 55-53 victory over Old Dominion on Saturday in the Conference USA tournament championship game.

The Blue Raiders (24-9) earned their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2013 in a defensive struggle that was markedly different from their 99-90 semifinal shootout with Marshall.

Aaron Bacote dribbled once and launched a 3-pointer from before midcourt for Old Dominion (22-13).

That set off a celebration that included Upshaw standing on the scorer's table in front of Middle Tennessee fans at Legacy Arena. He was the tournament MVP.

Giddy Potts led Middle Tennessee with 14 points and made 4 of 5 3-pointers before fouling out. Darnell Harris scored 10 points and Upshaw had nine, including the two biggest.

Trey Freeman led Old Dominion with 17 points, but was only 7-of-23 shooting. Aaron Bacote scored 15 points and the rest of the team totaled 21.

Brandan Stith's tip-in attempt off Bacote's miss didn't fall, and he didn't appear to get it off on time anyway. He sprawled face-first on the floor when it didn't.

Freeman, the league's leading scorer, couldn't come close to his semifinal performance. He set a tournament record with 42 points, including 34 in the second half against Western Kentucky.

The teams traded tying baskets inside over the final 1:11 then Zoran Talley, whose jumper had given the Monarchs a lead, missed this time.

Middle Tennessee ran off most of the clock before Upshaw tried to spin and was fouled by Denzell Taylor as he shot.

GIDDY'S DAY

Potts, the nation's No. 2 3-point shooter, fouled out on a charge with 3:17 left and the game tied at 49. The rest of the team was 2 of 11 from 3-point range.

TREY'S TOUGH TIME

Freeman launched an array of long jumpers and made a deep 3-pointer but got few open looks. He refused to blame the fatigue of four games in four days. "I just had a bad game," he said.

TIP INS

Middle Tennessee: Has won six straight games. Now 9-1 in games decided by three points or less.

Old Dominion: Was trying to become the fifth C-USA team to win four tournament games in four days and first since Houston in 2012. Made 1 of 9 3-ointers.

UP NEXT

Middle Tennessee is heading to its eighth NCAA Tournament.

Old Dominion awaits its postseason fate, possibly in the NIT.

Stony Brook: 2015-16 America East Men's Basketball Champions

STONY BROOK, N.Y. -- Jameel Warney wasn't going to let his final chance at an NCAA tournament slip away -- even with one hand behind his back.

With 1:15 remaining and Stony Brook holding on to a one-point lead, the Seawolves' senior big man fought off his man with one arm, grabbed an offensive rebound with the other and laid it back in to give Stony Brook a three-point lead it didn't relinquish en route to an 80-74 victory over Vermont in the America East Conference championship game.

"A missed shot is like a pass to me," Warney said. "Once the shot went in, I knew were one stop away from making history."

The 6-foot-8 Warney finished with a career-high 43 points, which tied a conference tournament record, and added 10 rebounds and four blocks. He single-handedly kept Stony Brook in the game in the first half, scoring 18 points, while the rest of the team went 3-of-19 from the field. The Seawolves were down by as many as 15 points in the second half, but senior guard Carson Puriefoy (23 points) stepped up and provided Warney with some help.

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The Saturday before Selection Sunday had become something of a Groundhog Day for coach Steve Pikiell and Stony Brook basketball. The Seawolves had reached the title game in four of the past five seasons -- and lost all four times, including twice at home. In 2013, Stony Brook was bounced in the semifinals after winning the regular-season title.

"It's been a blessing," Pikiell said. "Everyone in our league would die to be in our position. I've said, when they play well enough to win, they will. I talk about the 99 things we have done; everyone talks about the one thing we haven't."

But when Vermont opened up the 15-point lead in the second half, there was a sense at Island FCU Arena that it was happening again. Deja vu.

"We got this big chip on or shoulder," Warney said. "We always feel like we can win a game, even if we're down 100."

"My mindset was, 'We're not going to let this happen,'" Puriefoy added.

Warney simply wouldn't let Stony Brook stumble on the doorstep of the NCAA tournament this time around. Vermont tried everything it could to stop him, switching between man-to-man and zone defenses. But Warney answered every challenge, with three Vermont players eventually fouling out. He consistently got in a good position to score, and his teammates continued to find him for easy finishes at the rim.

"Just being aggressive from the start, and coach said before the game to get 20 shots up," Warney said. "Duck in hard, don't be casual with post-ups, playing to my strengths. And I thank my teammates for giving me the ball."

Stony Brook, which moved to Division I in 1999, will make its first NCAA tournament appearance.

"It's been an unbelievable journey. It's so hard," Pikiell said. "All the No. 1 seeds [losing this season], you see how hard it is. People think it's easy to win games. I'm proud of what we've built here."

Holy Cross: 2015-16 Patriot League Men's Basketball Champions

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Malachi Alexander scored 26 points and Holy Cross capped its stunning run to the Patriot League title and an NCAA Tournament berth with a 59-56 victory over Lehigh on Wednesday night.

The Crusaders are 14-19 and failed to win a conference road game during the regular season. Once the tournament started, the Crusaders won at Loyola, beat top-seeded Bucknell, won at Army, then knocked off second-seeded Lehigh (17-15).

The Crusaders are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2007.

Alexander made 6 of 7 3-pointers, more than enough for the ninth-seeded Crusaders to end Lehigh's school record-tying 11-game winning streak.

Holy Cross is the 20th team since 1985 to make the NCAA Tournament with a losing record, per STATS LLC.

Eric Green scored 13 points for the Crusaders.

Tim Kempton led Lehigh (17-5) with 20 points and Kyle Leufroy had 13. The Mountain Hawks made only 8 of 26 3-pointers.

The Mountain Hawks fell behind big early and failed to make a sustainable run until late in the game. Jesse Chuku buried a 3 with 1:10 left that brought Lehigh within one and Kahron Ross kept it a one-point game with a pair of free throws that made it 57-56 with 33 seconds left.

The Crusaders held on from the free-throw line and made the tournament in coach Bill Carmody's first season. Carmody failed to make the tournament in 13 seasons at Northwestern.

He didn't appear to be headed there this season, either, especially after Holy Cross lost five straight games headed into the tournament.

The Crusaders straightened their season out in the conference tournament and became the lowest-seeded team to win the Patriot League.

Lehigh staggered through the first half, missing 6 of 7 3-pointers and shooting just 23 percent overall. Lehigh missed nine of its first 12 shots and that allowed Holy Cross to stretch its lead early to double digits.

Alexander hit his third 3 of the half to make it 25-11 and Robert Champion pointed and waved in jubilation toward a couple hundred vocal Holy Cross fans that made the 4-hour trip to Stabler Arena.

Green, who averaged 3.6 points in the regular season, scored nine points in the half and Alexander also had nine.

Down 11 at halftime, Lehigh started hitting 3s and scored 16 points in the first 8 minutes of the second half -- or, two more than it scored at the break. Kempton had two three-point plays that brought Lehigh within four.

But Lehigh shot only 32 percent from the floor and did not attack the basket as effectively as it needed to win.

TIP INS

Holy Cross: In the NCAA Tournament for the 13th time. ... No team lower than fourth had ever won the tournament.

Lehigh: Lehigh last made the tournament in 2012. The Mountain Hawks had not made the championship game since that season.

UP NEXT

Holy Cross plays in the NCAA Tournament.

Lehigh waits for a hopeful NIT berth.

Gonzaga Bulldogs: 2015-16: West Coast Men's Basketball Champions

LAS VEGAS -- Eric McClellan scored 20 points, Kyle Wiltjer added 17 and Gonzaga took the guesswork out of its 18th straight NCAA tournament appearance by beating Saint Mary's 85-75 Tuesday night in the West Coast Conference championship game.

Despite sharing the WCC regular-season crown, Gonzaga (26-7) was not a lock to make the NCAA tournament. The Zags had a few smudges on their resume, so winning the WCC would make for a much easier Selection Sunday.

They took the suspense out of it with a balanced attack and by shooting 61 percent in the latest installment of this rivalry. Josh Perkins scored 16 points and Domantas Sabonis added 15 for Gonzaga.

Saint Mary's (27-5) tried to keep up with the Bulldogs' shooting, making 12 of 25 from 3-point range, but will have to hope its resume is good enough for an NCAA tournament berth.

Emmett Naar had 25 points and Joe Rahon added 16 for the Gaels.

Gonzaga and Saint Mary's are no strangers to the WCC title game, meeting in the final for the eighth time since 2004.

The difference this time was the favorite.

In the past, it was always Gonzaga. The Zags have been the dominant force in the WCC and beat Saint Mary's five times in seven games with the tournament title on the line.

This season, the Gaels had the edge heading into Las Vegas. They swept Gonzaga during the regular season for the first time since 1995 and entered the WCC tournament as the No. 1 seed.

The third leg of this season's rivalry was an offensive showcase, the teams combining to hit 13 of their first 14 shots, revving up the already-amped atmosphere inside Orleans Arena even more.

The Zags gained some separation with a bit of defense.

Gonzaga didn't exactly keep the Gaels from making shots -- they went 13 of 26 in the first half -- but did harass them into turnovers that set up shots in transition.

The Zags outscored Saint Mary's 15-4 on points off turnovers and hit 18 of 26 shots to lead 43-35 at halftime.

The torrid shooting continued in the second half and the Gaels cut down on the turnovers, allowing them to keep up with the Zags in an entertaining second half.

Gonzaga used a mini spurt capped by McClellan's straightaway 3-pointer to push the lead to 75-67 with just over 2 minutes left and kept its cushion from there.

TIP INS

Gonzaga: The Bulldogs lead the all-time series against Saint Mary's (63-29) ... Gonzaga has not missed the NCAAs since 1998.

St. Mary's: The Gaels had eight total turnovers, leading to 20 points for Gonzaga. ... Evan Fitzner had 11 points.

WHAT'S NEXT

Gonzaga will play in the NCAA tournament.

St. Mary's must wait to see if it gets an NCAA at-large bid on Sunday.

South Dakota State Jackrabbits: 2015-16 Summit League Men's Basketball Champions

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Freshman forward Mike Daum scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds Tuesday night to lead South Dakota State to a 67-59 win over North Dakota State to capture the Summit League championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament.

Deondre Parks added 14 points for the Jackrabbits (26-7), who advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the past five years.

Carlin Dupree led North Dakota State (20-13) with 19 points, and Khy Kabellis added 17 for the Bison.

Much of the early matchups inside the paint centered on a couple of freshman forwards -- the 6-foot-9, 230-pound Daum for the Jackrabbits and the Bison's big guy, 6-foot-6, 240 pound Dexter Werner. Werner scored nine points for the Bison.

TIP-INS

Tuesday night's Summit League title game highlighted two of the best defensive teams in the conference. North Dakota State has been holding opponents to an average of 64.4 points per game this season, best in the Summit League. South Dakota State has held its foes to a 41.5 shooting rate this season, best in the conference.

UP NEXT

The Jackrabbits will learn their NCAA Tournament opponent on Sunday.

The Bison will have to wait and see if they'll get an invitation to a postseason tournament.

Green Bay Phoenix: 2015-16 Horizon League Men's Basketball Champions

DETROIT -- Linc Darner is speeding into the NCAA tournament in his first season as Green Bay's coach.

Jordan Fouse scored 16 points, and the Phoenix wrapped up a spot in the NCAAs for the first time since 1996 by beating Wright State 78-69 on Tuesday night in the Horizon League title game. Darner took over at Green Bay after leading Florida Southern to the Division II national championship last year, and his up-tempo style worked wonders as his team won four games in four days in the Horizon tournament.

"These guys have believed in our system all year," Darner said. "I think a lot of people probably thought, 'Well, you can't win the big ones playing the way you guys play.' I think they proved everybody wrong with that."

Charles Cooper added 15 points for the Phoenix, who jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first half. Green Bay (23-12) and Wright State (22-13) were in the championship game after beating top-seeded Valparaiso and second-seeded Oakland the previous night.

Michael Karena scored 14 points for Wright State. The Raiders were able to control the tempo against high-scoring Oakland in the semifinals, winning that game 59-55, but they were playing catch-up throughout against Green Bay.

"All year we kept hearing, 'They aren't going to be able to win. That style isn't going to be able to win in a tournament setting,'" Fouse said. "That's just not right. Coach said it from the beginning -- nobody wants to see us when we have to play four games in four days -- and he was right."

Jamar Hurdle's basket capped a 13-0 run that gave the Phoenix an early 17-6 lead, and Green Bay led by as many as 15 points in the first half. Wright State missed 14 of 15 shots during one stretch, and although the Raiders recovered a bit from their slow start, they were down 42-30 at halftime.

"We kept thinking, 'They're going to fall. There's going to be a time that (the shots are) going to fall,'" Wright State guard Grant Benzinger said. "I guess right now it starts to set in that, yeah, we didn't shoot the ball like we could."

Wright State could never cut into its deficit all that much in the second half. Cooper's one-handed dunk on a fast break made it 60-41 with just under 10 minutes remaining.

Wright State was playing in the title game for the third time in four years, but hasn't made it to the NCAA tournament since 2007.

Green Bay beat Valpo 99-92 in overtime Monday, and the Phoenix came into Tuesday averaging 84 points a game. They were held below that figure, but not by much. According to kenpom.com, Green Bay is the most fast-paced offensive team in the country.

Both teams were playing their fourth game in four days, after Valpo and Oakland were given byes to the semifinals. Wright State shot 37.5 percent from the field Tuesday, a far cry from the patient execution that enabled the Raiders to beat Oakland.

Wright State's JT Yoho, who played a big role in the semis, scored eight points in the final on 2-of-17 shooting.

FAMOUS FAN

The Phoenix apparently caught the attention of another Green Bay star. A message on Aaron Rodgers' Twitter account that said "Let's go UWGB" showed up Tuesday night.

RUN WITH THEM

Wright State coach Billy Donlon said he felt his team needed to slow the game down against Oakland, but he was comfortable with a more up-tempo approach against Green Bay.

"Green Bay and Oakland are different animals for us," Donlon said. "We don't have a problem trying to score with Green Bay. ... The way I talked about it with our players was, 'We have to attack this game.'"

TIP-INS

Green Bay: The Phoenix improved to 12-0 when holding opponents under 70 points. ... Green Bay lost to Valpo 54-44 in last year's Horizon final.

Wright State: The Raiders led only once, at 6-4.

UP NEXT

Green Bay will hear its name called on Selection Sunday. Donlon said he thinks Wright State is an NIT-caliber team, but he is not really expecting to receive a bid to that tournament.

Fairleigh Dickinson: 2015-16 Northeast Men's Basketball Champions

NEW YORK -- Fairleigh Dickinson coach Greg Herenda gave a timeline on how his team was thinking of winning the Northeast Conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

"In July it would have been a stretch," he said of a team that was coming off a losing season that saw them drop 15 straight at one point. "In November, December it wasn't a shock to think that anymore. We put Dayton on the board in July."

Dayton and the First Four is where the Knights are most likely headed after beating Wagner 87-79 on Tuesday night to win the NEC Tournament.

"Hey, it's a night in the lights of America and an opportunity to win," he said. "If we win a First Four game, a No. 1 seed has to go down sometime. It's going to happen. I'm not predicting it, but if you come out and guard us we'll drive by you and if you don't we'll shoot over you. I don't care who we play."

That was the formula for success against Wagner.

Darian Anderson scored 28 points and Earl Potts Jr. had 27 to lead FDU to its fifth NCAA Tournament bid and first since 2005.

Anderson had 18 points in the second half and Potts had 16 when the Knights took control on the way to their first NCAA bid since 2005, and the first under Herenda, who is in his third season.

Potts has the same idea as his coach in terms of the NCAA Tournament.

"Whoever we play is going to have a hard time," he said. "We can go and win a couple of games. We're just not going to show up."

Potts scored FDU's first nine points of the second half as it took the lead for good on his 3-pointer that gave the second-seeded Knights (18-14) the lead at 51-47.

They were ahead by as many as 10 points, the first time on a 3 by Marques Townes with 4:15 to play.

Anderson was 8 of 16 from the field, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range, while Potts was 11 of 19, including 4 of 8 from long range. The Knights were 9 of 19 from 3-point range.

"We didn't play good defense in the first half but we got it right in the second half," Potts said.

Corey Henson led the top-seeded Seahawks (23-9) with 24 points, while Michael Carey had 18 points and 11 rebounds. Wagner finished 4 of 24 from 3-point range and 21 of 33 from the free throw line.

"We just didn't make shots and their effort kicked up a notch and ours didn't," Carey said. "I think it was effort."

The win was the fifth straight for the Knights and it ended Wagner's seven-game winning streak. The teams split the season series with Potts hitting a 3 at the buzzer to give the Knights an overtime win at Wagner.

The game was played before a packed, sellout crowd of about 2,100 at Wagner's Spiro Sports Center and the FDU fans in attendance rushed the court at the final buzzer.

"I knew our crowd would storm the floor," Anderson said. "We knew we had to make a lot of adjustments from last year to make this happen and we ended up doing so."

The first half started and ended about as different as possible.

The Seahawks opened the game on a 13-2 run, getting the ball inside the Knights' 2/3 zone for shots down low. FDU got as close as four points before the Seahawks again scored inside often to take a 31-20 lead with 3:35 left in the half.

The Knights, taking advantage of Wagner turnovers, closed the half on a 13-4 run to cut Wagner's lead to 35-33. Potts closed it with a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left.

Both teams struggled from 3-point range in the first half, Wagner making 3 of 11 and the Knights just slightly better at 3 for 10.

"They made a couple of tough 3s and a couple of bombs," Wagner coach Bashir Mason said. "There's no way I'm going to let our season be defined by one game."

TIP-INS:

FDU: The Knights are the third-youngest roster in Division I with two redshirt juniors and all sophomores and freshmen. ... FDU last played in the NEC title game in 2006. ... FDU's NCAA appearances were 1985, 1988, 1998 and 2005. ... The Knights reached the title game with wins over St. Francis, Pa. and Mount St. Mary's. ... FDU's Director of Basketball Operations is Pete Lappas, the son of former Villanova and Massachusetts coach Steve Lappas.

Wagner: This was the first time Wagner hosted the championship game since 2003. ... The Seahawks reached the title game with wins over Robert Morris and LIU Brooklyn. ... The 87 points were the most allowed by Wagner this season.

UP NEXT:

FDU: NCAA Tournament.

Wagner: NIT.

Chattanooga: 2015-16 Southern Men's Basketball Champions

Chattanooga is going to the NCAA Tournament. The Mocs became the first top-seeded team in a conference tournament to clinch an automatic bid by outlasting East Tennessee State 73-67 in the Southern Conference Tournament title game on Monday night. It caps an impressive rookie season from first year head coach and longtime Billy Donovan disciple Matt McCall.

Chattanooga held a 12-point advantage out of halftime, but ETSU just wouldn't go away, riding a 10-0 run to pull within one just 12 minutes into the second half. From there, the Buccaneers played the role of pests to Chattanooga's efforts at pulling away, coming up with timely stops through the second half to keep things close. ETSU's T.J. Cromer and head coach Steve Forbes both drew technical fouls on the same play with four minutes remaining, which handed Chattanooga four free throws to increase their lead to 65-57.

That second half push proved to be the difference, as the Mocs managed to tamp down on ETSU's shooters, who went lethally frigid from the charity stripe, to seal off the win. Chattanooga's Greg Pryor and Tre' McLean led all Mocs scorers with 13 points apiece.

Chattanooga returns to the Big Dance after a seven-year hiatus dating back to 2009. The Mocs enjoyed a run of March Madness appearances in the 1990s, earning four bids from 1993 to 1997.

UNC Wilmington: 2015-16 Colonial Men's Basketball Champions

BALTIMORE -- UNC Wilmington won its first Colonial Athletic Association title in 10 years and earned a trip to the NCAA tournament, getting 20 points from Craig Ponder in an 80-73 overtime victory over top-seeded Hofstra on Monday night.

The game was tied before a three-point play by Seahawks freshman C.J. Brycemade it 76-73 with 1:20 left in overtime. After a Hofstra misfire, Denzel Ingramdrilled a 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining to clinch the comeback victory.

Chris Flemmings scored 19 for second-seeded UNCW (25-7) and Ingram added 17.

Rokas Gustys had 18 points and 23 rebounds for the Pride (24-9), and Ameen Tanksley scored 24. Hofstra was seeking its first CAA championship; the Pride last played in the NCAA tournament in 2001 after winning the American East.

Iona Gaels: 2015-16 Metro Atlantic Men's Basketball Champions

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A.J. English hit a fadeway jumper with 1:39 left to break a tie and Deyshonee Much followed with a driving layup that he converted into a three-point play, and second-seeded Iona beat top-seeded Monmouth 79-76 on Monday night to win the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference tournament title and the NCAA tournament berth that goes with it.

The Hawks (27-7), who joined the MAAC in 2013, were seeking their first tournament appearance since 2006 when they were members of the Northeast Conference. They entered the title game on a five-game winning streak and had won 13 of 14 in a storybook season, the lone loss coming at Iona (22-10).

With a solid resume, the Hawks were still in the running for an at-large bid and the MAAC has twice had multiple bids (1995, 2012).

Florida Gulf Coast: 2015-16 Atlantic Sun Men's Basketball Champions

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Zach Johnson sat out last season at Florida Gulf Coast for medical reasons, with doctors so concerned about his health that some wondered if he would ever play college basketball.

He's better than ever now -- and he and the Eagles are headed to the NCAA Tournament.

Antravious Simmons scored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, Johnson capped his 19-point effort by blocking a potential game-tying shot at the rim with four seconds left in overtime, and fourth-seeded FGCU won the Atlantic Sun's automatic berth to the NCAAs by beating seventh-seeded and upset-minded Stetson 80-78 in the conference title game Sunday night.

"I'm just excited I can get the seniors a chance to go," Johnson said during the on-court celebration. "A lot of them haven't been. And me, I'm a freshman, I haven't had a chance to go."

Next week, that'll change. FGCU became the fifth school to punch its ticket into the field of 68.

Marc-Eddy Norelia scored 16 and Christian Terrell added 15, including a spinning layup with 56.4 seconds left in overtime for FGCU (20-13), which is headed back to the NCAAs for the first time since the team's "Dunk City" crew made a stunning run to the Sweet 16 in 2013.

"Great college atmosphere," FGCU coach Joe Dooley said. "I think the league looked great on TV tonight ... a really good college basketball game, and I'm really proud of our guys."

Derick Newton scored 22 for Stetson (12-22), which knew its season would end win or lose because the school is ineligible for the NCAAs this season.

Grant Lozoya and Divine Miles each scored 11 for the Hatters, but Miles' layup was the one Johnson blocked in the final moments.

"We still had a lot in the tank," Stetson coach Corey Williams said. "But they stepped up and made big plays, too."

FGCU trailed for much of the second half before using a 10-0 run late in the regulation to build a five-point lead. But the Hatters -- helped by a pair of big 3-pointers from Lozoya and Leo Goodman -- closed the half on a 9-4 run, then forced Johnson into a contested miss at the rim with 6 seconds left to force overtime.

FGCU scored the game's first 10 points, a run that started with a dunk from Demetris Morant and ended with a dunk from Johnson. However, Stetson recovered and went on a 16-4 run to take its first lead on a 3-pointer by Goodman.

And the teams stayed close from there. Stetson led 35-30 at the half, and neither team was up by more than five the rest of the way.

Stetson was ineligible for the NCAA Tournament this year because of a subpar Academic Progress Report score, caused in part by the effect that two players who transferred to other schools had on that score. So if the Hatters won, the A-Sun would have seen regular-season champion North Florida get the automatic berth into the NCAAs.

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TIP-INS

Stetson: The Hatters played 34 games this season, the most in school history. ... Stetson plans to add one scholarship player for 2016-17, plus bring back all 12 of its current players. "We're going to take a week off," Williams said. "We're going to get back to work because we want to get back here."

FGCU: Redshirt senior Filip Cvjeticanin and assistant coach Michael Fly are the only members of the Eagles' roster and coaching staff who were at FGCU during the NCAA run in 2013. ... FGCU reached the 20-win mark for the fourth consecutive season.

A-SUN HISTORY

Stetson was previously in the A-Sun title game in 1987 and 1994, losing both. FGCU has reached the A-Sun championship game four times in five years of eligibility since joining the conference, winning in 2013 and losing in 2012 and 2014.

UP NEXT

Stetson: Season complete.

FGCU: NCAA Tournament, TBA.

UNC Asheville: 2015-16 Big South Men's Basketball Champions

BUIES CREEK, N.C. -- UNC Asheville coach Nick McDevitt stood on the court facing the Bulldogs' screaming fans with his arms raised when sophomore Ahmad Thomas ran over, embraced him and lifted him off the ground.

As Thomas started to carry his coach around, teammate Sam Hughes interrupted by running over to celebrate the same way.

The next time these Bulldogs have a chance to do that, it will be in their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2012.

Freshman Dwayne Sutton had season highs of 25 points and 18 rebounds to help UNC Asheville beat Winthrop 77-68 in Sunday's championship game of the Big South Tournament, capping an unexpected run to the title after being picked to finish seventh in the preseason poll.

"We tell our team a lot, often, that winning is hard," said McDevitt, in his third season at his alma mater. "And certainly winning a tournament is really hard because you have to beat three really good teams to do it. ... A lot of people put forth a lot of effort to give us this opportunity and to be able to take advantage of that feels really good."

Sutton was named the tournament's most valuable player for the fourth-seeded Bulldogs (22-11), who shot 53 percent after in the second half by aggressively attacking the paint to take control.

Hughes added all 15 of his points in a second half that saw UNC Asheville get to the free throw line 28 times and outrebound the Eagles, completing a two-day sweep of the tournament's top two seeds to claim its fifth championship in its ninth finals appearance.

Jimmy Gavin scored 31 points to lead the second-seeded Eagles (23-9), who had control of the opening half but went cold as the Bulldogs made their move. Winthrop shot just 34 percent after halftime and 35 percent for the game while struggling to keep the Bulldogs out of the lane, with leading scorer Keon Johnson finishing with two points on 1-for-16 shooting.

Winthrop was making a league-record 14th appearance in the final and was seeking its first title since 2010, but instead the Eagles lost in the final for the third straight season.

"At the end of the day, we fell a little short," coach Pat Kelsey said. "We want to get back here again and try it again."

The teams split their regular-season meetings, each winning by a point at home -- though the Bulldogs' 85-84 win in January came after rallying from 23 points down in the final 15 1/2 minutes. It was the biggest second-half comeback in program history.

They rallied again from a double-digit deficit, this time 11 points late in the first half, primarily by putting their head down and attacking the lane. Trailing 33-24 at halftime, UNC Asheville went ahead for good on a 3-pointer from leading scorer Dylan Smith with 11:39 left.

"We wanted to attack the bigs," Sutton said. "We knew (they) were good shot blockers, but we couldn't be afraid going in there."

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TIP-INS

UNC ASHEVILLE: Smith hit three second-half 3s after a 1-for-6 shooting performance before halftime. He finished with 11 points. ... Kevin Vannatta scored 12 points. ... UNC Asheville made 18 of 28 free throws in the second half after going 0 for 1 in the first half.

WINTHROP: Joshua Davenport had 15 points. ... Winthrop shot 13 of 17 from the free throw line. ... Xavier Cooks had 12 rebounds.

COLD SHOOTING

The Eagles' biggest struggles came from behind the arc, where they missed 28 of 33 tries. That included Johnson missing all nine of his attempts.

"Could we have made another play here? Could I have taken care of the ball better?" Gavin said. "There's a lot of things that happen. It's not on one person. It's on all of us. We weren't good enough today."

UP NEXT

UNC Asheville will play in the NCAA Tournament.

Winthrop will wait to find out if it plays in the postseason.

Northern Iowa: 2015-16 Missouri Valley Men's basketball Champions

ST. LOUIS -- Wes Washpun was given the chance to send Northern Iowa to the NCAA Tournament. He had to wait a second before he knew he had done it.

Washpun hit a jumper from the top of the key that bounced high off the back of the rim and fell in at the buzzer to give the Panthers a 56-54 victory over Evansville on Sunday in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game.

Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson had a timeout but didn't call it. Instead letting Washpun decide the game He stood alone, dribbling the ball until he started for the basket, made a crossover move, clearing just enough space for the straight-on jumper.

"That's what he allowed me to take so that's what I had to take," Washpun said of the defense. "Not a better feeling in the world."

The Panthers led by as many as 17 points before giving up the lead in the final minutes.

"We gave up the momentum and then we had to find a way to win," Jacobson said. "A lot of times, that doesn't happen. Usually, you don't beat them."

Washpun, named the tournament MVP, made two big shots in the final minute, also scoring from the key to put Northern Iowa up by two with 50 seconds to go.

D.J. Balentine's reverse layup tied it with 24.9 seconds remaining on Evansville's third scoring chance in the same possession. Then Northern Iowa held it for the final shot.

Washpun had 18 points, five rebounds and three assists for Northern Iowa (22-12), following up a 20-point effort in an overtime victory over top seed Wichita State in the semifinals. Klint Carlson added 17 points for the Panthers, who repeated as champion.

They dispatched Evansville (25-9) for the third time this season -- by a total of seven points.

Famous Northern Iowa alum Kurt Warner gave the team motivational support via texts.

"He just kept telling us to live in the moment," said Jeremy Morgan, who added 14 points and four blocks.

Balentine had 20 points and Jaylon Brown added 18 for Evansville, which hasn't made it to the NCAA Tournament since 1999. The conference tourney winner gets an automatic bid and Wichita State could get an at-large bid.

Northern Iowa has won the tournament four of the last eight years, and enters the NCAA Tournament having won 12 of 13 games.

"Coach Jacobson told us it's harder to do what we did this year, when you go through a little bit of a rut and pick yourself back up," Washpun said of the Panthers who started 2-6 in conference play.

The Panthers twice led by 17 points, late in the first half and in the opening minute after the break when Morgan's 3-pointer made it 35-18.

Brown and Balentine had big second halves for Evansville, scoring 16 and 15 points. Evansville twice led by a point in the closing minutes.

"We just played a lot harder, we had better rhythm and I just thought we played faster," coach Marty Simmons said. "Those are all things we certainly wanted to do in the first half. No excuses."

Northern Iowa led 32-18 at halftime, the second-fewest points scored in the first half by Evansville this season. The Purple Aces mustered just 16 in the first half at Northern Iowa in the regular season finale.

A 21-4 run capped by five points from Carlson gave Northern Iowa a 26-9 lead.

Carlson had 13 points in the half and Balentine, the leading active scorer in the NCAA, was held without a point for more than 17 minutes.

TIP-INS

Teams in the title game grabbed all the all-tournament spots, with Carlson and Morgan also representing Northern Iowa and Evansville represented by Balentine and Brown.

NORTHERN IOWA: Carlson averages 6.6 points but was 8 for 12 from the field and added five rebounds. Morgan was 4 for 5 from 3-point range.

EVANSVILLE: The Purple Aces shot 23 percent in the first half, 50 percent in the second half. Egidiju Mockevicius had 18 rebounds.

UP NEXT

Jacobson was so relieved to win that he had no immediate reaction when asked what seed Northern Iowa deserves. "No. Are you crazy?" he said. Evansville, which won the CIT last year, could land in the NIT.

"I'm sure it will be anxious," Simmons said. "There's nothing easy for us."

Austin Peay: 2015-16 Ohio Valley Men's Basketball Champions

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Dave Loos gasped when senior Chris Horton went down with a sprained left ankle late in the first half.

Turns out the veteran coach needn't have worried. His Austin Peay Governors had come too far to let injury or playing their fourth game in as many days stop them.

Freshman Jared Savage scored 24 points, hitting 8 of 14 from 3, as Austin Peay upset No. 2 seed UT Martin 83-73 Saturday night in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament championship earning an automatic NCAA Tournament berth.

Austin Peay hit a school-record 16 3-pointers to help Loos celebrate his 69th birthday, and the Governors (18-17) won their sixth straight overall for their first OVC title since 2008 and fifth overall. This will be their sixth NCAA Tournament berth. They upset the league's regular season champ to reach the final in a tournament where they had to win the final two of the regular season and get help to even earn the eighth and final seed.

"Best birthday present I have ever had without question, and these guys made it possible," Loos said. "So very appreciative."

Josh Robinson added 20 points, Khalil Davis 14 points, and John Murry 11 for the Governors.

Horton, the All-OVC senior, averaged 27.3 points and 16.3 rebounds through the first three games of this tournament but went down going for a rebound late in the first half and limped to the locker room to get taped up. Horton returned but was limited to eight points and seven rebounds.

So the Governors kept shooting away from outside.

"I wanted to say stop it, but they kept going in so we went on with it, and these guys were really good," Loos said.

The league's Western Division champ, UT Martin (19-14) was looking for its first OVC tournament title. Coach Heath Schroyer said the Governors deserved to win.

"We tried every scheme we had in the book, I mean literally, and I really believe when we cut it to 10 with 5 minutes left, I thought we were going to come back," Schroyer said. "They just hit a back-breaking 3."

Twymond Howard led the Skyhawks with 24 points, Jacolby Mobley had 15, and Alex Anderson 14.

The Skyhawks jumped out to an 11-3 lead.

Then the team that should've been exhausted took control with a 19-2 run. Horton's dunk with 11:38 left put the Governors ahead to stay at 14-13, and they led 38-33 at halftime.

Savage started the second half by hitting three straight 3s, and Robinson added another for a 12-4 run by the Governors to go up 50-37. The Skyhawks got within 78-70 on back-to-back 3s by Mobley with 1:39 left but couldn't get closer.

"It's just all confidence," Savage said. "Once you make the first one, you start rolling."

TIP-INS

Austin Peay: The Govs shot better outside the arc (16 of 31, 51.6 percent) than they did inside (26 of 57, 49.1 percent). ... Savage's father, Jermaine, won an OVC title with Austin Peay in 1996. Horton's father, Eddie, also played for the Governors in the mid-1970s.

UT Martin: The Skyhawks had won nine of their last 10. ... The Skyhawks hit 16 3s twice this season but went 9 of 29 outside the arc. ... The Skyhawks had a 32-20 edge in the paint and scored 19 points off Austin Peay's 13 turnovers. They also had a 19-4 edge on fast-break points.

RALLY FOR RHYAN: Loos' granddaughter, Rhyan, had surgery Wednesday for a neuroblastoma, and the Governors had the phrase "Rally for Rhyan" on the back of their warmup shirts for the 5-year-old girl. Supporters also wore that phrase on bracelets. Rhyan's father, Brad, is an assistant coach at Missouri, and Loos said his son watched the title game on TV.

UP NEXT

Austin Peay: NCAA Tournament.

UT Martin: Waiting and hoping for a postseason invitation.

Yale: 2015-16 Ivy League Men's Basketball Champions

NEW YORK -- Yale finally ended its long NCAA tournament drought.

Makai Mason scored 22 points and Brandon Sherrod added 13 to lead Yale to a 71-55 victory over Columbia on Saturday night, clinching the Bulldogs' first NCAA bid since 1962.

The Bulldogs shared the Ivy championship last year with Harvard, but lost the playoff game with the Crimson.

"It's amazing," Sherrod said. "You look up in the gym and see the last time we got to tournament was 1962, it really motivates you to win. Every college basketball player wants to go to the big dance. It's unbelievable, great time for our school, great opportunity for our team. It's surreal."

Saturday's win ended the second longest NCAA drought of any team that has made the tournament previously, according to STATS. Only Dartmouth has gone longer without making it, not dancing since 1959. Tennessee Tech has the second-longest drought (1963), followed by Bowling Green and Columbia, who haven't made the tourney since '68.

Yale won without its captain Jack Montague, who left the team last month. The school has declined to detail why he left. Montague's family didn't return messages left by The Associated Press, but his father told the New Haven Register on Friday that his son was expelled.

"It's not something we talk about," Yale coach James Jones said. "We coach basketball and play basketball, deal with guys that are in the room and do the best we can."

The team did FaceTime with Montague before the game.

The Ivy League remains the only conference not to have a postseason tournament, so the regular-season champion goes to the NCAAs.

The Bulldogs (22-6, 13-1 Ivy) jumped out to a 17-3 lead as Columbia missed nine of its first 10 shots. Consecutive 3-pointers by Anthony Dallier capped the opening run 6:38 into the game.

Yale extended the advantage to 27-10 before Maodo Lo scored 10 straight points for the Lions, who used a 15-4 burst to close to within six with 4:31 left in the half. But that's as close as they'd get. Mason scored seven straight points during a 10-2 spurt to close the half and give the Bulldogs a 41-27 lead at the break.

Columbia rallied within 49-45 with 9:12 left, but consecutive 3-pointers by Mason and Khaliq Ghani restored the double-digit lead with 7:17 left. Columbia could only get within six the rest of the way.

As the final seconds ran down, Yale started to celebrate the end of 54 years of frustration with coach James Jones hugging his players.

Lo scored 21 points to lead Columbia (21-10, 10-4). The Lions are in the midst of one of the most successful seasons in school history. They already have the most regular season wins in program history since the 1950-51 season when Columbia won 23 games. The Lions were trying to win 11 league games for the first time since 1978.

They honored seniors Lo, Alex Rosenberg, Isaac Cohen and Grant Mullins before the game. The quartet is the winningest class for Columbia since 1953.

"I love our team, these guys were once young guys in the locker room," Columbia coach Kyle Smith said. "These four seniors logged a lot of minutes, won more than most and set a number of records. You go back 45-50 years to some of the accomplishments they made. They'll be missed for sure."

88th Academy Awards Winners

Best Picture Spotlight – Michael Sugar, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, and Blye Pagon Faust The Big Short – Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner Bridge of Spies – Steven Spielberg, Marc Platt, and Kristie Macosko Krieger Brooklyn – Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey Mad Max: Fury Road – Doug Mitchell and George Miller The Martian – Simon Kinberg, Ridley Scott, Michael Schaefer, and Mark Huffam The Revenant  – Arnon Milchan, Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Mary Parent, and Keith Redmon Room – Ed Guiney	Best Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu – The Revenant Adam McKay – The Big Short George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road Lenny Abrahamson – Room Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
Best Actor Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant as Hugh Glass Bryan Cranston – Trumbo as Dalton Trumbo Matt Damon – The Martian as Mark Watney Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs as Steve Jobs Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl as Lili Elbe	Best Actress Brie Larson – Room as Joy "Ma" Newsome Cate Blanchett – Carol as Carol Aird Jennifer Lawrence – Joy as Joy Mangano Charlotte Rampling – 45 Years as Kate Mercer Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn as Eilis Lacey
Best Supporting Actor Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies as Rudolf Abel Christian Bale – The Big Short as Michael Burry Tom Hardy – The Revenant as John Fitzgerald Mark Ruffalo – Spotlight as Michael Rezendes Sylvester Stallone – Creed as Rocky Balboa	Best Supporting Actress Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl as Gerda Wegener Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight as Daisy Domergue Rooney Mara – Carol as Therese Belivet Rachel McAdams – Spotlight as Sacha Pfeiffer Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs as Joanna Hoffman
Best Original Screenplay Spotlight – Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer Bridge of Spies – Matt Charman, Ethan Coen, and Joel Coen Ex Machina – Alex Garland Inside Out – Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley, and Ronnie del Carmen Straight Outta Compton – Jonathan Herman, Andrea Berloff, S. Leigh Savidge, and Alan Wenkus	Best Adapted Screenplay The Big Short – Adam McKay and Charles Randolph from The Big Short by Michael Lewis Brooklyn – Nick Hornby from Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín Carol – Phyllis Nagy from The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith The Martian – Drew Goddard from The Martian by Andy Weir Room – Emma Donoghue from Room by Emma Donoghue
Best Animated Feature Film Inside Out – Pete Docter and Jonas Rivera Anomalisa – Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson, and Rosa Tran Boy & the World – Alê Abreu Shaun the Sheep Movie – Mark Burton and Richard Starzak When Marnie Was There – Hiromasa Yonebayashi and Yoshiaki Nishimura	Best Foreign Language Film Son of Saul (Hungary) in Hungarian – László Nemes Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia) in Spanish – Ciro Guerra Mustang (France) in Turkish – Deniz Gamze Ergüven Theeb (Jordan) in Arabic – Naji Abu Nowar A War (Denmark) in Danish – Tobias Lindholm
Best Documentary – Feature Amy – Asif Kapadia and James Gay-Rees Cartel Land – Matthew Heineman and Tom Yellin The Look of Silence – Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen What Happened, Miss Simone? – Liz Garbus, Amy Hobby, and Justin Wilkes Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom – Evgeny Afineevsky and Den Tolmor	Best Documentary – Short Subject A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness – Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy Body Team 12 – David Darg and Bryn Mooser Chau, Beyond the Lines – Courtney Marsh and Jerry Franck Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah – Adam Benzine Last Day of Freedom – Dee Hibbert-Jones and Nomi Talisman
Best Live Action Short Film Stutterer – Benjamin Cleary and Serena Armitage Ave Maria – Eric Dupont and Basil Khalil Day One – Henry Hughes Everything Will Be Okay – Patrick Vollrath Shok – Jamie Donoughue	Best Animated Short Film Bear Story – Pato Escala Pierart and Gabriel Osorio Vargas Prologue – Imogen Sutton and Richard Williams Sanjay's Super Team – Nicole Paradis Grindle and Sanjay Patel We Can't Live Without Cosmos – Konstantin Bronzit World of Tomorrow – Don Hertzfeldt
Best Original Score The Hateful Eight – Ennio Morricone Bridge of Spies – Thomas Newman Carol – Carter Burwell Sicario – Jóhann Jóhannsson Star Wars: The Force Awakens – John Williams	Best Original Song "Writing's on the Wall" from Spectre – Music and Lyric by Jimmy Napes and Sam Smith "Earned It" from Fifty Shades of Grey – Music and Lyric by Ahamad Balshe (Belly), Stephan Moccio, Jason "Daheala" Quenneville, Abel Tesfaye (The Weeknd) "Manta Ray" from Racing Extinction – Music by J. Ralph, Lyric by Antony Hegarty "Simple Song #3" from Youth – Music and Lyric by David Lang "Til It Happens to You" from The Hunting Ground – Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga and Diane Warren
Best Sound Editing Mad Max: Fury Road – Mark A. Mangini and David White The Martian – Oliver Tarney The Revenant – Martin Hernández and Lon Bender Sicario – Alan Robert Murray Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Matthew Wood and David Acord	Best Sound Mixing Mad Max: Fury Road – Chris Jenkins, Gregg Rudloff, and Ben Osmo Bridge of Spies – Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, and Drew Kunin The Martian – Paul Massey, Mark Taylor, and Mac Ruth The Revenant – Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Randy Thom, and Chris Duesterdiek Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio, and Stuart Wilson
Best Production Design Mad Max: Fury Road – Colin Gibson and Lisa Thompson Bridge of Spies – Rena DeAngelo, Bernhard Henrich, and Adam Stockhausen The Danish Girl – Michael Standish and Eve Stewart The Martian – Celia Bobak and Arthur Max The Revenant – Jack Fisk and Hamish Purdy	Best Cinematography The Revenant – Emmanuel Lubezki Carol – Ed Lachman The Hateful Eight – Robert Richardson Mad Max: Fury Road – John Seale Sicario – Roger Deakins
Best Makeup and Hairstyling Mad Max: Fury Road – Lesley Vanderwalt, Elka Wardega, and Damian Martin The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared – Love Larson and Eva von Bahr The Revenant – Siân Grigg, Duncan Jarman, and Robert Pandini	Best Costume Design Mad Max: Fury Road – Jenny Beavan Carol – Sandy Powell Cinderella – Sandy Powell The Danish Girl – Paco Delgado The Revenant – Jacqueline West
Best Film Editing Mad Max: Fury Road – Margaret Sixel The Big Short – Hank Corwin The Revenant – Stephen Mirrione Spotlight – Tom McArdle Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Maryann Brandon and Mary Jo Markey	Best Visual Effects Ex Machina – Mark Williams Ardington, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris, and Andrew Whitehurst Mad Max: Fury Road – Andrew Jackson, Dan Oliver, Andy Williams, and Tom Wood The Martian – Anders Langlands, Chris Lawrence, Richard Stammers, and Steven Warner The Revenant – Richard McBride, Matt Shumway, Jason Smith, and Cameron Waldbauer Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh, and Neal Scanlan