College basketball

American, Holy Cross return to final

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. -- Glenn Stokes scored 26 as American beat Lafayette 74-55 Sunday night, advancing to the Patriot League championship.

The second-seeded Eagles (16-13) face top-seed and host Holy Cross on Friday in Worcester, Mass. Holy Cross defeated Bucknell 75-50 in the first semifinal.

It will be a rematch of last year's league final, when Holy Cross beat the Eagles at American. The Eagles have never qualified for the NCAA Tournament, while the Crusaders (25-4) are seeking their third straight tournament title.

American never trailed and ended the first half with a 15-2 run, taking a 44-24 lead. Stokes hit four 3-pointers in the first half and six total. Lafayette, which was seeded sixth, was led by Rob Dill's 16 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

Holy Cross held Bucknell to 50 points or less in all three games this season. The Bison were never closer than 19 in the second half.

AMERICA EAST: Jose Juan Barea hit a 25-foot 3-pointer with .8 seconds left as Northeastern beat Maine 71-68 to advance to the semifinals in Boston. The Huskies (16-14) face top-seeded Boston (19-9), which beat New Hampshire 75-61, tonight. Barea set a school record for points in a postseason game with 38, topping the 1986 mark of 35 held by ex-Celtic star Reggie Lewis.

Wayne McClinton scored 13 and Junior Amous added 11 as third-seeded Hartford beat Stony Brook 59-47. Hartford (16-12) faces second-seeded Vermont (19-11), an 81-62 winner over Albany, tonight. Matt Sheftic shot 10-for-10 and scored 22 to lead Vermont

COLONIAL ATHLETIC: Craig Callahan had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Brett Blizzard added 18 points to lead top-seeded North Carolina-Wilmington (22-6) over Delaware 63-50 in a semifinal at Richmond, Va.

Robert Battle scored 15, including a layup with 4.3 seconds left, to lead third-seeded Drexel (19-10) 62-60 over Virginia Commonwealth. The Rams, who missed 17 of their first 22 field goals in the second half, led 60-59 with 23 seconds left before Battle's 5-footer.

METRO ATLANTIC: Luis Flores scored 30 and Kenny Minor made four free throws in the final 26 seconds as top-seeded Manhattan (22-6) defeated Niagara 82-81 in double overtime in a semifinal at Trenton, N.J. Niagara had a chance to win in the final seconds, but David Brooks missed a short jumper, and Juan Mendez was tied up on the rebound. Manhattan had several chances to win in regulation and the first overtime. Mendez blocked Flores' driving layup in the final two seconds at the end of the first overtime. At the end of regulation, the Jaspers' Jared Johnson caught Minor's inbound pass in mid-air in the lane, but his shot rimmed out at the buzzer.

Deng Gai scored 15 to lead No. 2 seed Fairfield 67-63 over Siena. Manhattan and Fairfield split their season series, with each winning on the road.

MID-CONTINENT: Raitis Grafs and Joaquim Gomes each scored 16 to lead Valparaiso 82-62 over Chicago State in the first round at Kansas City, Mo. The top-seeded Crusaders (19-9) face fifth-seeded Missouri-Kansas City (9-19), a 76-73 winner over Oral Roberts, tonight. Michael Watson scored 34 to lead the Kangaroos. Josh Murray had 18 points as second-seeded Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis (18-13) topped Western Illinois 75-51. IUPUI forced the Leathernecks into 23 turnovers. David Palmer scored 18 as sixth-seeded Southern Utah upset third-seeded Oakland. The Thunderbirds (11-16) face IUPUI today.

NORTHEAST: Courtney Pritchard scored 17 and Jermaine Hall 15 as top-seeded Wagner beat Quinnipiac 61-54. The Seahawks (20-10) play the championship at home Wednesday night against seventh-seeded St. Francis, N.Y. (14-15), which beat Fairleigh Dickinson 88-62. Mike Wilson scored 15 on five 3-pointers in the deciding first-half run for St. Francis. Neither the Seahawks nor Terriers have qualified for an NCAA Tournament.

SUN BELT: William Pippen scored 21, including two free throws with three seconds remaining, as Middle Tennessee beat South Alabama 72-69 Sunday in the quarterfinals at Bowling Green, Ky. The Blue Raiders (15-13) face Denver tonight. James Moore had 20 points and five rebounds as New Mexico State defeated Arkansas-Little Rock 78-61. The Aggies (21-8) face Western Kentucky (21-8) tonight.

WEST COAST: Matt Delzell tied his career high with 20 points and Jason Keep scored 19, leading host and No. 2 seed San Diego (17-11) to the title game with a 72-63 win over San Francisco.

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