COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S TOURNAMENT : DIVISION II : Cal State Bakersfield Wins Title

Tyrone Davis made it sound simple.

“All we had to do was shut down their three-pointers and we knew we would win,” Davis said after leading Cal State Bakersfield over Troy State, 85-72, Saturday in the the NCAA Division II championship game.

The Roadrunners finished 33-0 to become the first college team on any level to go undefeated with that many victories.

The Division II title was the first for a California team. The Roadrunners reached the semifinals twice and the finals once in the past three years. The last undefeated team to win the Division II title was Evansville in 1965.

Troy State, which holds the NCAA single-game scoring record with 258 points against DeVry (Ga.) in 1992, set a tournament record for three-pointers by hitting 23 of 44 in its semifinal victory over New Hampshire. Against Bakersfield, the Trojans were five for 23.

Coach Pat Douglass even kept his players at half court when Troy State was at the foul line to deter the three-pointers.

“I would rather lose a couple of rebounds than have them score easy threes,” Douglass said.

Said Troy State Coach Don Maestri: “We seemed to struggle offensively. We couldn’t get a flow going. TV timeouts aren’t good for our style of play.

“But that’s not taking anything away from (Bakersfield’s) defense. The difference in our shooting was excellent defense.”

Troy State (27-5) trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half but cut the lead to 34-30 by halftime. The Trojans took the lead briefly, but Terry McCord, who had 23 points and three steals, fouled out with 8:09 to play and guard Bryant Johnson followed him with 5:32 remaining.

Kenny Warren made a three-pointer with 2:07 left. Davis, who finished with 27 points and most valuable player honors, followed with a dunk to give the Roadrunners a 78-70 lead with 1:52 remaining. Bakersfield held on by converting five of 10 free throws.

Reggie Phillips added 23 points for the Roadrunners. Chris Williams had 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Trojans.