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College basketball: Holy Cross (14-19) wins NCAA berth

Lehigh forward guard Austin Price, center, attempts to grab a rebound as he fights off Holy Cross forward Malachi Alexander during the first half of the Patriot League Championship game on Wednesday.

Lehigh forward guard Austin Price, center, attempts to grab a rebound as he fights off Holy Cross forward Malachi Alexander during the first half of the Patriot League Championship game on Wednesday.

(Rich Schultz / AP)
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Malachi Alexander scored 26 points and Holy Cross (14-19) capped its stunning run to the Patriot League title and an NCAA tournament berth with a 59-56 victory over Lehigh on Wednesday night at Bethlehem, Pa.

The Crusaders failed to win a conference road game during the regular season. Once the tournament started, the Crusaders won at Navy and American, then knocked off second-seeded Lehigh (17-15) to reach the NCAAs for the first time since 2007.

Alexander made six of seven three-pointers, more than enough for the ninth-seeded Crusaders to end Lehigh’s school record-tying 11-game winning streak.

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

Also:

Nevada Las Vegas 108, Air Force 102 (3OT): Senior Ike Nwamu scored a career-high 38 points and Patrick McCaw added 27 with 14 rebounds to help the Rebels (18-14) advance to the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference tournament in Las Vegas. Jacob Van scored a career-high 37 points for the Falcons, who had five players foul out.

No. 19 Duke 92, N.C. State 89: A bloodied Marshall Plumlee’s tiebreaking three-point play with 1:14 left helped the Blue Devils overcome a second-half deficit against the Wolfpack for the third time in three meetings in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament at Washington. The defending NCAA champions (23-9) face defending ACC tournament champion Notre Dame in the quarterfinals.

Pittsburgh 72, Syracuse 71: Cameron Johnson scored a career-high 24 points off the bench as the Panthers (21-10) strengthened their NCAA resume by fending off a late run by the Orange in the ACC tournament. Johnson and Ryan Luther helped Pitt’s bench outscore Syracuse’s 39-10 to finish a season sweep and deal a significant blow to the tournament hopes of the Orange (19-13).

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