Driesell Passes Diddle on All-Time Victory List

Regular-season conference champion Georgia State blew a 12-point with 13 minutes remaining, but came back for a 66-56 victory over Samford in the Trans America Athletic Conference tournament at Atlanta. The victory was the 760th for Georgia State Coach Lefty Driesell, who moved past former Western Kentucky coach Ed Diddle into sixth place on the NCAA Division I all-time victory list. In today’s final, Georgia State (27-4) plays Troy State (19-11)--a 78-69 winner over Stetson.

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Kyle Hill and Henry Domercant--the nation’s No. 3 and 4 scorers--combined for 55 points to lead Eastern Illinois (20-9) to a 97-71 victory over Murray State (17-12) in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament in Nashville. In the final, Eastern Illinois plays Austin Peay (22-9)--an 83-63 winner over Tennessee Tech (20-9). . . . Two of the Southern Conference’s high-profile teams, regular-season champion East Tennessee and perennial mid-major power College of Charleston, lost in its tournament quarterfinals at Greenville, S.C. East Tennessee (18-10) was a 72-64 loser to Georgia Southern (15-14) and Charleston (22-7) lost to Davidson (15-16) for the second time in five days, 57-54. . . . Towson (12-16) rallied from a nine-point deficit with six minutes left in a 65-62 victory over Hartford (4-24) in the America East Conference tournament at Newark, Del. Tamir Goodman, Towson’s starting point guard, missed the game to fulfill religious obligations on the Jewish Sabbath.

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The NCAA has given Arizona State permission to establish a benefit fund for sophomore basketball player Justin Allen, who is battling cancer. Allen, from Malta, Ill., was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease last September. His tumor has shrunk, and he has two more chemotherapy treatments.