TUESDAY’s College basketball RESULTS

HORIZON LEAGUE

Green Bay 78, Wright State 69

DETROIT

Linc Darner is speeding into the NCAA Tournament in his first season as Green Bay’s coach. Jordan Fouse scored 16 points, and the Phoenix wrapped up a spot in the NCAAs for the first time since 1996 by beating Wright State in the Horizon League title game. Darner took over at Green Bay after leading Florida Southern to the Division II national championship last year, and his up-tempo style worked wonders as his team won four games in four days in the Horizon tournament. “These guys have believed in our system all year,” Darner said. “I think a lot of people probably thought, ‘Well, you can’t win the big ones playing the way you guys play.’ I think they proved everybody wrong with that.” Charles Cooper added 15 points for the Phoenix, who jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first half. Green Bay (23-12) and Wright State (22-13) were in the championship game after beating top-seeded Valparaiso and second-seeded Oakland the previous night. Michael Karena scored 14 points for Wright State. The Raiders were able to control the tempo against high-scoring Oakland in the semifinals, winning that game 59-55, but they were playing catch-up throughout against Green Bay. “All year we kept hearing, ‘They aren’t going to be able to win. That style isn’t going to be able to win in a tournament setting,”’ Fouse said. “That’s just not right. Coach said it from the beginning — nobody wants to see us when we have to play four games in four days — and he was right.” Jamar Hurdle’s basket capped a 13-0 run that gave the Phoenix an early 17-6 lead, and Green Bay led by as many as 15 points in the first half. Wright State missed 14 of 15 shots during one stretch, and although the Raiders recovered a bit from their slow start, they were down 42-30 at halftime. “We kept thinking, ‘They’re going to fall. There’s going to be a time that (the shots are) going to fall,”’ Wright State guard Grant Benzinger said. “I guess right now it starts to set in that, yeah, we didn’t shoot the ball like we could.” Wright State could never cut into its deficit all that much in the second half. Cooper’s one-handed dunk on a fast break made it 60-41 with just under 10 minutes remaining. Wright State was playing in the title game for the third time in four years, but hasn’t made it to the NCAA Tournament since 2007.

ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE

Florida State 88, Boston College 66

WASHINGTON

Boston College wrapped up the first 0-19 season in ACC men’s basketball by losing to Florida State in the first round of the conference tournament, as Devon Bookert led the Seminoles with 15 points. This was not a rout from start to finish and actually was relatively close at halftime, with FSU ahead 39-30. But the 11th-seeded Seminoles (19-12) scored the first six points of the second half and never really were threatened again. The 14th-seeded Eagles (7-25) got 21 points from Eli Carter. Malik Beasley and Dwayne Bacon added 13 points apiece for a balanced FSU team, which faces Virginia Tech on Wednesday.

North Carolina State 75, Wake Forest 72

WASHINGTON

Maverick Rowan connected on a career-best six 3-pointers and leading scorer Anthony “Cat” Barber added 22 points as North Carolina State beat Wake Forest in the opening game of the ACC Tournament. Rowan went 6 for 13 from 3-point territory to finish with 24 points, just shy of his career high. Barber, the conference’s leading scorer who started 2 of 11 from the field, made five of his final 10 shots and a couple of key free throws down the stretch for 12th-seeded N.C. State (16-16). Freshman Bryant Crawford led 13th-seeded Wake Forest (11-20) with 19 points on 7-of-17 shooting. Seniors Devin Thomas and Codi Miller-McIntyre combined to shoot 10 of 30 from the field. The game featured 15 ties and 17 lead changes.

WEST COAST CONFERENCE

Gonzaga 85, Saint Mary’s 75

LAS VEGAS

Eric McClellan scored 20 points, Kyle Wiltjer added 17 and Gonzaga took the guesswork out of its 18th straight NCAA Tournament appearance by beating Saint Mary’s in the West Coast Conference championship game. Despite sharing the WCC regular-season crown, Gonzaga (26-7) was not a lock to make the NCAA Tournament. The Zags had a few smudges on their resume, so winning the WCC would make for a much easier Selection Sunday. They took the suspense out of it with a balanced attack and by shooting 61 percent in the latest installment of this rivalry. Jose Perkins scored 16 points and Domantas Sabonis added 15 for Gonzaga. Saint Mary’s (27-5) tried to keep up with the Bulldogs’ shooting, making 12 of 25 from 3-point range, but will have to hope its resume is good enough for an NCAA Tournament berth.

SUMMIT LEAGUE

South Dakota State 67, North Dakota State 59

SIOUX FALLS, S.D.

Freshman forward Mike Daum scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead South Dakota State over North Dakota State to capture the Summit League championship and an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament. Deondre Parks added 14 points for the Jackrabbits (26-7), who advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the third time in the past five years. Carlin Dupree led North Dakota State (20-13) with 19 points, and Khy Kabellis added 17 for the Bison. Much of the early matchups inside the paint centered on a couple of freshman forwards — the 6-foot-9, 230-pound Daum for the Jackrabbits and the Bison’s big guy, 6-foot-6, 240 pound Dexter Werner. Werner scored nine points for the Bison.

NORTHEAST CONFERENCE

Fairleigh Dickinson 87, Wagner 79

NEW YORK

Darian Anderson scored 28 points and Earl Potts Jr. had 27 to lead Fairleigh Dickinson over Wagner in the championship game of the Northeast Conference Tournament and the Knights’ fifth NCAA Tournament bid. Anderson had 18 points in the second half and Potts had 16 when the Knights took control on the way to their first NCAA bid since 2005, and the first under third-year coach Greg Herenda. Potts scored FDU’s first nine points of the second half as it took the lead for good on his 3-pointer that gave the second-seeded Knights (18-14) the lead at 51-47. They were ahead by as many as 10 points, the first time on a 3 by Marques Townes with 4:15 to play.

Associated Press