COLLEGE BASKETBALL NATIONAL ROUNDUP : Big Second Half Gives Creighton Missouri Valley Title

L.A. Times Archives

March 6, 1991 12 AM PT

From Associated Press

Creighton continued its dominance of the Missouri Valley Conference with a 68-52 victory over Southwest Missouri on Tuesday to win the conference tournament at St. Louis for the fourth time and second in the past three years.

Duan Cole scored seven of his 15 points early in the second half as the Bluejays (23-7), the regular-season champions, broke open a tight game. It was the seventh victory in a row and 14th in the past 15 games for Creighton.

Ryan Thornton had 10 points for Southwest Missouri (21-11), which trailed, 38-33, at halftime but shot only 22% in the second half.

Wisconsin Green Bay 56, Northern Illinois 39--Dean Vander Plas scored 18 points and Tony Bennett sparked a 21-3 second-half run at Green Bay as the Phoenix (24-6) earned its first NCAA tournament bid by winning the Mid-Continent Conference tournament.

The Huskies (25-5), the regular-season champion, lost for the third time this season to Wisconsin Green Bay.

Towson State 69, Rider 63--Devin Boyd had a key three-point play with just over a minute to play and the Tigers (19-10) won their second consecutive East Coast Conference championship at Towson, Md.

The Broncs (14-16) led, 59-57, on Mark Wilcox’s three-pointer with 2:40 to go, but Boyd tied the score on two free throws with 2:03 left and put the Tigers ahead for good on a three-point play with 1:06 to go.

Texas San Antonio 77, Mercer 55--Keith Horne scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half as the Roadrunners (21-7) pulled away in a first-round game of the Trans America Athletic Conference tournament at Deland, Fla. Mercer (2-25) finished the season with a seven-game losing streak.

Boston University 88, New Hampshire 57-- Mark Daly scored 20 points, all in the second half at Boston, as the Terriers (11-17) advanced to the semifinals of the North Atlantic Conference tournament.

Senior guard Reggie Stewart scored 17 points for the Terriers, who will play Maine in the semifinal round Thursday night.