Indiana State Now One Up on Bird

Indiana State found a way to top Larry Bird, the school’s most famous player.

The Sycamores made it to the NCAA tournament in consecutive seasons for the first time in school history with a 69-63 victory over Bradley in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament championship game Monday night at St. Louis. The title is Indiana State’s first since 1979, when Bird was a senior and led the Sycamores to an NCAA runner-up finish.

That was Indiana State’s only NCAA trip in the Bird era.

“Maybe this is the one thing he couldn’t get,” forward Matt Renn said.

Indiana State (21-11) made it to the NCAAs as an at-large team last season after winning the conference regular-season title, ending a 21-year tournament drought. This time the Sycamores made it as the No. 5 seed, defeating top-seeded Creighton in the semifinals and getting 21 points from Kelyn Block in its victory over No. 2 Bradley.

Bradley (19-11) got a career-high 20 points from Eddie Cage. Jeffrey Rabey had 15 rebounds and Phillip Gilbert had nine points and 10 rebounds for the losers.

“They obviously don’t have a Larry Bird,” Bradley Coach Jim Molinari said of Indiana State. “But they’ll be a strong representative. They played great.”

OTHER TOURNAMENTS

Colonial Athletic Assn.--George Mason (18-11) held top-seeded North Carolina Wilmington (19-10) scoreless for three long stretches, including the final 3:46, and won the championship, 35-33, at Richmond, Va.

Erik Herring’s three-pointer from the left side gave George Mason a 34-33 lead with 3:27 to go. It was the Patriots’ only three-pointer in 14 tries.

The teams combined to produce the second-lowest scoring game in NCAA history since the shot clock was implemented in 1986. The game was within one point of matching the NCAA record for fewest points, set in Southern Methodist’s 36-31 victory against Texas Arlington in 1989.

Metro Atlantic Athletic--Nakiea Miller matched a career high with 24 points to lead top-seeded Iona (22-10) to its second consecutive tournament championship with a 74-67 victory over Canisius (20-11) at Buffalo, N.Y. Earl Johnson added 20 points and Miller pulled down 15 rebounds as the Gaels earned their third NCAA tournament berth in four years.

Northeast--Gerry Crosby scored 11 points to lead a game-ending 31-8 run that rallied Monmouth to a 67-64 victory over St. Francis, N.Y., in the championship game at Trenton, N.J. The Hawks (21-9) rallied from a 20-point deficit with 13:59 remaining to earn their second NCAA tournament berth and deny top-seeded St. Francis (18-11) its first NCAA berth.

Mid-Continent--Raitis Grafs had 19 points and 13 rebounds to lead Valparaiso (24-7) to a 65-54 victory over Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis (11-18) in the semifinals at Fort Wayne, Ind. Valparaiso will play in the championship game tonight against Southern Utah (24-5), which got 25 points from Fred House in a 73-62 victory against Oral Roberts (10-19) in the other semifinal.

Sun Belt--Brett Gravitt and Henry Williams each scored 14 points and Ravonte Dantzler added 13 in leading South Alabama (22-9) to a 76-53 victory over Arkansas State (17-13) in the semifinals at Mobile, Ala. South Alabama will face Western Kentucky (23-6) in tonight’s championship after the Hilltoppers scored an 82-75 victory against Louisiana Lafayette (16-13) in the other semifinal.

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NCAA Men Qualifiers

Schools that have gained NCAA men’s tournament automatic bids by virtue of conference tournament championships, with exception of the Ivy League and Pacific 10--the only conferences that don’t conduct tournaments.

School: Conference

Eastern Illinois: Ohio Valley

George Mason: Colonial Athletic Assn.

Georgia State: Trans America Athletic

Gonzaga or Santa Clara: West Coast

Indiana State: Missouri Valley

Iona: Metro Atlantic Athletic

Monmouth, N.J.: Northeast

N.C. Greensboro: Southern

Winthrop: Big South