Underdog Siena Crashes the Party

The Siena players and coaches aren’t surprised. They might be the only ones.

Dwayne Archbold scored 30 points and the Saints capped an improbable Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament run with a 92-77 win over Niagara on Monday night at Albany, N.Y., to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

“It doesn’t surprise me at all, because I knew what this team was capable of,” Archbold said. “It just took us a long time to get everything together, and it just came together in the tournament.”

Archbold, the tournament’s most valuable player, set a MAAC record with 111 points in four games.

Siena (16-18) became the first MAAC team to win the championship after participating in a play-in game as one of the league’s bottom four seeds. The conference went to that format five years ago.

The Saints took an 11-point halftime lead and didn’t let the Purple Eagles (18-14) get closer than seven in the second half. Niagara’s final chance to close the gap came with one minute left when it caused a turnover and Tremell Darden broke out on a fastbreak.

Darden hesitated at the three-point line, picked up his dribble and lost the ball, sealing the loss.

Siena’s last NCAA appearance came in 1999, when it lost to Arkansas in the first round.

OTHER TOURNAMENTS

Colonial Athletic Assn.--Brett Blizzard scored 22 points and North Carolina Wilmington used a fast start and rugged defense to beat Virginia Commonwealth, 66-51, in the championship game at Richmond.

The Seahawks (22-9) led, 28-10, after 10 minutes and never let the Rams closer than eight again. Wilmington earned the second NCAA tournament bid in school history.

Missouri Valley--Terrell Taylor scored 20 points and Kyle Korver added 18, pacing Creighton to an 84-76 victory over Southern Illinois in the title game at St. Louis.

Second-seeded Creighton (22-8), which lost twice during the regular season to the top-seeded Salukis (26-7), has reached the NCAA tournament the last four years.

Sun Belt--Patrick Sparks made the game-winning shot as time expired to lead No. 18 Western Kentucky to a 73-72 victory over New Mexico State in the semifinals at New Orleans.

The win gave Western Kentucky (27-3) its 17th straight victory, the second-longest streak in the nation.

Western Kentucky meets Louisiana Lafayette, a 67-53 winner over Arkansas Little Rock, in the final tonight.