MIT crashes NCAA dance party

Engineers claim first Div. 3 bid

By From Staff And Wire Reports  |  March 2, 2009

Jimmy Bartolotta scored a NEWMAC tournament-record 37 points yesterday, 21 in the first half, sending MIT past Springfield, 76-50, in the conference title game and into the NCAA Division 3 tournament for the first time in school history.

Billy Johnson added 13 points and Bradley Gampel had 10 assists for MIT (20-8). The Engineers will learn their first-round NCAA opponent today, when the brackets are unveiled.

Pat Crean had 20 points for the Pride (15-13).

Middlebury 77, Amherst 68 - Ben Rudin's 18 points and nine rebounds sent the host Panthers (24-3) past the Lord Jeffs in the NESCAC championship game, earning the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division 3 tournament.

Senior Brian Baskauskas had 17 points and 14 rebounds for Amherst (21-6), which finds out today if it will play in the NCAA tournament as an at-large pick.

BU 67, Hartford 57 - Corey Lowe scored 11 of his 20 points in the final 6:19 of regulation and overtime and the host Terriers beat the Hawks.

BU (17-12, 11-5 America East) blew a 21-point lead, but held Hartford without a field goal in overtime to win its third straight game.

The Terriers enter this weekend's conference tournament as the No. 3 seed, playing defending champion Maryland-Baltimore County. BU defeated UMBC twice during the regular season.

Hartford (6-25, 2-14), losers of 14 straight, enters the tournament as the No. 9 seed. The Hawks will face No. 8 Maine.

John Holland forced overtime with two free throws with 6.5 seconds left in regulation.

Vermont 93, Maine 81 - Colin McIntosh scored 23 points and Marqus Blakely added 19 points and 13 rebounds as the visiting Catamounts (23-7, 13-3) beat the Black Bears (9-20, 4-12) and gained a share of the America East regular-season title.

UNH 58, Stony Brook 57 - Tyrece Gibbs hit a 3-pointer with four seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime and then connected on another trey with 34 seconds to go in the extra period to give the host Wildcats (13-15, 8-8 America East) a win over the Seawolves (16-13, 8-8).

La Salle 97, UMass 88 - Rodney Green and Darryl Partin each scored a career-high 30 points to lead the Explorers past the visiting Minutemen.

Ruben Guillandeaux added 14 while Vernon Goodridge had 10 points and 11 rebounds for La Salle (16-12, 7-7 Atlantic 10), which set season highs in points and 3-pointers (10).

Ricky Harris scored 20 points, all in the final 11:12, and Anthony Gurley also had 20 for the Minutemen (10-17, 5-9), who have dropped four of their last five. Chris Lowe added 15 points and nine assists and David Gibbs had 10 points.

La Salle led, 46-29, at halftime and extended the margin to 26 points twice in the second half. A 3-point play by Guillandeaux gave the Explorers a 72-46 lead with 11:21 remaining.

UMass used runs of 11-2 and 11-3 to cut the margin to 84-75 on a layup by Lowe with 2:23 left. But the Explorers hit 13 of 14 free throws in the final 2:16.

URI 73, Duquesne 71 - Kahiem Seawright scored 4 of his 21 points in the final two minutes and Keith Cothran added 20 points as the Rams (22-8, 11-4) moved into second place in the Atlantic 10 by rallying in the second half to beat the host Dukes (17-10, 8-6).

Louisville 62, Marquette 58 - In Louisville, Andre McGee scored a season-high 16 points as the No. 6 Cardinals edged the No. 8 Golden Eagles to keep their hopes for a Big East title alive.

Terrence Williams added 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists for Louisville (23-5, 14-2), which has won five straight and can clinch at least a share of the regular-season title by winning its final two games.

Wesley Matthews's 19 points led Marquette (23-6, 12-4).

Kansas 90, Missouri 65 - Sherron Collins scored 25 points and dished out key assists during an early 18-1 run, and the No. 15 Jayhawks stretched their nation-leading home-court streak to 40 by beating the No. 11 Tigers.

Cole Aldrich had 19 points and 14 rebounds in a surprisingly lopsided win that puts Bill Self's young Jayhawks (24-5, 13-1 Big 12) on the cusp of a fifth straight Big 12 title and ninth in 13 years. Leo Lyons had 20 points for Missouri (24-5, 11-3).

Michigan State 74, Illinois 66 - The Spartans won the Big Ten regular season championship, holding off a late charge by the host Illini.

Kalin Lucas led Michigan State (23-5, 13-3) with 18 points. Jeff Jordan's steal and layup tied it at 58 for Illinois (23-7, 11-6), but the Spartans regained the lead and won coach Tom Izzo his fifth conference title.