Yale closes with flourish, beats buzzer, tops Brown
Matt Knowling hit a jumper at the buzzer to cap Yale’s closing 8-1 run as the Bulldogs beat Brown 62-61 in the Ivy League tournament final in New York.
John Poulakidas led second-seeded
Yale (22-9) with 18 points, including a 3-pointer that pulled the Bulldogs within 61-60 with 14 seconds left.
Poulakidas then fouled Malachi Ndur, who missed two free throws to set the stage for Knowling.
Kino Lilly Jr. scored 21 points for the fourth-seeded Bears (13-18), who had won seven straight games — including a regular season-closing 84-81 victory over Yale.
The Bulldogs earned their seventh
NCAA Tournament berth. Brown was seeking seeking its first berth since 1986. Its only other appearance was in 1939.
■ No. 12 Auburn 86, Florida 67: At Nashville, Tenn., Johni Broome had 19 points and 11 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Tigers (27-7), who shot 50.8 percent and never trailed en route to their third Southeastern Conference tournament title. The sixth-seeded Gators (24-11) lost center Micah Handlogten to a broken left leg in the opening three minutes.
■ No. 13 Illinois 93, Wisconsin 87: Minneapolis, Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 34 points while hitting 15 of 17 free throws for the second-seeded Illini (26-8), who overcame a 61-51 deficit en route to their fourth Big Ten tournament title. Marcus Domask had 26 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Illinois. A.J. Storr scored 24 points and Chucky Hepburn 20 for the fifth-seeded Badgers (22-13).
■ Duquesne 57, Virginia Commonwealth 51: At New York, Dae
Dae Grant had 10 points and Fousseyni Drame 12 rebounds for the sixth-seeded Dukes (24-11), who overcame 29.8 percent shooting to win the Atlantic 10 tournament and gain their first NCAA Tournament berth since 1977. Joe Bamisile scored 20 points for the fifth-seeded
Rams (22-13), who trailed 36-22 at halftime. They shot 36.2 percent and were outrebounded 41-32.
■ Alabama-birmingham 85, Temple 69: At Fort Worth, Texas, Alejandro Vasquez hit five 3-pointers and totaled 29 points for the fourth-seeded Blazers (23-11), who never trailed in the American Athletic Conference tournament final.
They gained their 17th NCAA Tournament berth. Hysier Miller scored 32 points for the 11th-seeded Owls (16-20), who missed 16 of 21 3-point tries.