Metro State Defeats Rival for Division II Title

Patrick Mutombo scored 23 of his 29 points in the second half to lead Metropolitan State past Kentucky Wesleyan, 80-72, Saturday at Evansville, Ind., to win its second Division II men’s basketball championship in three years.

Lee Bethea added 19 points for Metro State (29-6), which has played Kentucky Wesleyan in three of the last four title games. Kentucky Wesleyan won in 1999.

Chris Landry scored 17 for Kentucky Wesleyan (31-3), which entered the tournament ranked No. 1 in the nation.

Metro State, located in Denver, trailed by four at halftime and was down, 44-43, with about 13 minutes remaining.

“Our defense won this game,” Mutombo said. “Defense is all about desire. We shut them down in both halves and we forced the tempo. We deserved to win and this feels incredible.”

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NIT

Memphis 79, Tennessee Tech 73--Dajuan Wagner scored 19 points and Scooter McFadgon had 16 of his 18 in the second half to help the Tigers win a quarterfinal at Memphis, Tenn. Memphis (25-9) will play Temple on Tuesday at New York. The Tigers beat the Owls, 64-54, this season.

McFadgon made four of eight three-point attempts and keyed the Tigers’ second-half comeback. The Golden Eagles (27-7) led by as many as 10 points in the first half.