Cal Poly Pomona’s Season Comes to End

Kentucky Wesleyan ended Cal Poly Pomona’s storybook run in the NCAA Division II tournament with a decisive 85-60 victory in the quarterfinals at Lakeland, Fla., on Wednesday.

Pomona (23-8) was a surprise entrant into the quarterfinals after pulling off an upset double-overtime victory over Cal State San Bernardino in the West Regional final. But the Broncos were no match for the eight-time Division II champions.

Marlon Parmer scored a game-high 20 points and had nine assists as the Panthers (30-3) jumped out to a 43-21 halftime lead and were never threatened. Parmer, who started at New Mexico last year, had 19 of those points in the first half.

“He’s a lot better than what I saw on film,” Pomona forward Guy Beahm said. “In that first half, it seemed like he was on cruise control.”

Pomona made only seven of 27 first-half shots. Jeff Bonds led the Broncos with 19 points and Michael Ridgway had 12, but they were left short-handed when starting forward David Sybesma couldn’t play because of an infected big toe.

Eugene Dabney, a 6-foot-11 transfer from Rutgers, had 14 points and eight rebounds for Kentucky Wesleyan, which plays Bowie State in tonight’s semifinals.

“Our kids competed hard, but Kentucky Wesleyan was awfully good today,” Cal Poly Pomona Coach Greg Kamansky said.

-- Eric Stephens

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Georgetown College (Ky.) shot 68% in the second half on its way to an 86-63 victory against Point Loma Nazarene in the opening round of the NAIA Division I men’s basketball tournament at Kansas City, Mo.

Senior guard Quintin Bailey led Georgetown with 22 points. Junior guard Marshall Williams had 16 points and seven rebounds, while senior guard Andre Mahorn posted 15 points.

Point Loma Nazarene ends its season at 22-12. The Crusaders were led by junior guard Andrew Lasker, who had 20 points. Sophomore guard Francis Ireifej contributed 11 points, while junior forward Trenton Berglund had 10 points and a team-high six rebounds.

In a late game, Abdiel Mendieta scored 33 points to lead John Brown (Ark.) to a 70-67 victory over Azusa Pacific. Ladrick Simon scored 24 points for Azusa Pacific (27-7). Azusa’s Caleb Gervin was held to 11 points.

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Andre Emmett scored 29 points to lead Texas Tech past Georgia Tech, 80-72, in an NIT quarterfinal game at Lubbock, Texas, sending Bob Knight to the tournament’s semifinals for the sixth time in his 37 years as a head coach.

Knight, in his second year at Texas Tech, took his Army team to the NIT three times and his Indiana team twice.

His 1979 Indiana team won the tournament, beating Purdue, 53-52.

Texas Tech (21-12) used an 18-3 run in a four-minute stretch midway through the second half to break the game open.

The Red Raiders took a 65-52 lead, it’s largest of the game, with eight minutes left. Georgia Tech (16-15) never got closer than four the rest of the way.

In the other NIT game Wednesday, Georgetown earned a trip to the semifinals the hard way.

Playing their third straight road game, the Hoyas knocked off North Carolina, 79-74, at Chapel Hill, N.C.

Georgetown (18-14) also beat Tennessee and Providence on the road in the first two rounds.

Gerald Riley scored 11 of his 22 points during a 22-4 run midway through the second half to break open a tight game and help deny the Tar Heels (19-16) a 20-win season one year after going a program-worst 8-20.