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College basketball
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 8, 2003
ATLANTA -- Reserve Marcus McGee scored all 13 of his points in the second half as Central Florida upset top-seeded Mercer 79-59 Friday night in the semifinals of the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament.
The Golden Knights (21-10) face Troy State (25-5), a 71-61 winner against Georgia State (14-14), in the final.
Ray Abellard had 18 points and Dexter Lyons scored 10 of his 13 in the second half for UCF, which pulled away from a halftime tie to beat the Bears (23-6) for the first time this season.
Former Dunedin High star Josh Bodden, who came in averaging 4.8 points, added 10 off the bench for the Knights.
Central Florida finished with a 10-2 run.
Scott Emerson scored 17 for the Bears.
MISSOURI VALLEY: Gregg Alexander scored 17 and hit three 3-pointers as Illinois State (8-20) shot 51 percent in a 63-62 win against Drake (10-20) in the first round. Illinois State plays top seed Southern Illinois in the quarterfinals today.
In other conference news, Bruce Weber, whose Salukis (22-5, 16-2) won the regular-season championship, was named MVC coach of the year.
"I've been through three athletic directors, four chancellors and three presidents," said Weber, completing his fifth season at SIU after 18 as a Purdue assistant. "Everyone asks, 'How is that?' I tell them it's great. They're never there long enough to dislike you."
BIG SOUTH: Alex Kragel hit a jump shot with 0.4 seconds left in overtime to give North Carolina-Asheville (13-16) an 81-80 victory over top-seeded Winthrop in the semifinals in Lynchburg, Va. The Bulldogs play Radford (9-19), a 55-52 winner against Liberty (14-14), for the championship today.
OHIO VALLEY: Anthony Davis scored 16, and Josh Lewis added 15 and a key block, as Austin Peay (22-7) beat Murray State (17-12) 69-56 in overtime in the semifinals in Nashville. The top-seeded Governors play today in the championship against Tennessee Tech (19-11), an 88-71 winner against Morehead State (20-8).
SOUTHERN: Tim Smith, the conference's freshman of the year, scored 17 to lead Eastern Tennessee State (19-10) to its first league tournament final in 10 years with a 64-55 victory over the College of Charleston (24-7) in North Charleston, N.C. The Bucs play Chattanooga (20-8), which won 77-58 against VMI (10-19), in today's championship.
SUN BELT: Junior Matias scored 14 of his game-high 21 in the second half as Florida International (8-20) pulled away to upset New Orleans (15-14) 62-45 in the first round in Bowling Green, Ky.
INDIANA: The son of former Knicks star Patrick Ewing has announced he plans to play for the Hoosiers next fall. Patrick Ewing Jr., a 6-8, 220-pound forward, averaged 19 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots for National Christian Academy of suburban Washington this season.
LOUISVILLE: NCAA investigators questioned center Marvin Stone for four hours about wire transfers of money sent to Stone from his mother and two sisters.
-- Staff writer Bruce Lowitt contributed to this report.