New kid Bellarmine defeats Jacksonville
Knights capture Atlantic Sun, but not NCAA berth
CJ Fleming scored a career-high 27 points and Dylan Penn added 22 and Division I newcomer Bellarmine (20-13) defeated Jacksonville (21-10), 77-72, for the Atlantic Sun title in Louisville, Ky., handing the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament to regular-season champion Jacksonville State.
The Knights, in the second of a four-year transition to Division I, became heroes in Jacksonville, Ala.
Top-seeded Jacksonville State fell at home, 54-51, Saturday to the Dolphins, but since Bellarmine is ineligible for the NCAA tournament, the Gamecocks will go dancing.
Bellarmine, a recent Division II power and 2011 champion, defeated Liberty, the other Atlantic Sun division champion, 53-50, on the road Saturday. Jacksonville, which joined the conference in 1998, was seeking its first league championship and first NCAA berth in 36 years.
Other tournaments
West Coast: Andrew Nembhard scored 19 points and Rasir Bolton added 18 as top-ranked Gonzaga (263) outlasted No. 17 Saint Mary’s (25-7), 82-69, to win its eighth conference title in nine years.
Colonial Athletic: Jyare Davis scored 18 points and Andrew Carr had 17 points and 12 rebounds for his second career double-double and fifth-seeded Delaware beat No. 2 seed UNC Wilmington, 59-55, in Washington to claim the championship.
Horizon: Trey Calvin made a jumper from just inside the free-throw line with 10.5 seconds left to complete a late comeback from 16 points down to earn Wright State (21-13) a 72-71 win against Northern Kentucky (20-12) in Indianapolis to claim both the championship and an automatic berth.
Northeast: Peter Kiss had 34 points and a season-high five steals and top-seeded Bryant (22-9) cruised to 7043 win against Wagner (216) in Smithfield, R.I., for the first tournament championship in program history. Bryant set the Division I program record for wins this season.
Summit: Douglas Wilson had 21 points and 11 rebounds and South Dakota State (30-4) beat North Dakota State (23-10), 73-69, in Sioux Falls, S.D., to win the tournament and earn the automatic berth.