Robert Morris Takes Title From Mount St. Mary's

Dallas Green picked up a loose ball and made a hurried shot with 2.5 seconds remaining for his only basket of the game, and regular season champion Robert Morris shook off its tournament jinx against Mount St. Mary's for a 48-46 victory last night in the Northeast Conference championship game in Coraopolis, Pa.

Jeremy Chappell scored 15 points as Robert Morris (24-10), which rallied from five points down in the second half to beat the 2008 champion Mountaineers (19-13) for the third time this season, withstood a ragged performance on its home court to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time in 17 years.

Each of the previous two seasons, the Colonials swept the regular season series from Mount St. Mary's only to lose to the Mountaineers on their home court.

This time, Chappell -- MVP of the Northeast regular season and tournament -- hit a three-pointer to put the Colonials ahead 46-44 with 1 minute 42 seconds remaining, but Shawn Atupem hit two free throws with 1:17 remaining to tie it.

After both teams missed chances to take the lead, Chappell had the ball knocked away from him with the clock winding down, but Green picked it up close to the baseline and put in a leaning shot for one of the biggest baskets in school history.

Kelly Beidler scored 12 points for Mount St. Mary's.

-- PORTLAND STATE 79, MONTANA STATE 77: In Ogden, Utah, Julius Thomas got free for a tie-breaking dunk with 3.5 seconds left and the Vikings (23-9) beat the Bobcats (14-17) in the Big Sky Conference tournament championship game.

Portland State clinched its second consecutive NCAA tournament berth despite allowing Montana State to rally from 10 points down and tie the game at 77 with 11 seconds left on a three-pointer by Branden Johnson.

Lehigh Women Are Champs

Alex Ross hit six three-pointers and scored 21 points to lead Lehigh past Lafayette, 64-56, in Bethlehem, Pa., for its first Patriot League title in 12 years.

The Mountain Hawks (26-6) are heading to only their second NCAA tournament and first since 1997, when they also beat Lafayette in the title game. Ross helped Lehigh avoid becoming Lafayette's third straight upset victim by sinking all six threes in the first half to build a double-digit lead that was sliced to one in the final minutes.

Lafayette (10-22) upset No. 2 seed American and sixth-seeded Navy to reach its first title game in 12 years, startling results for a team that entered the tournament on a 10-game losing streak.

-- NORTH CAROLINA A&T 80, HOWARD 52: In Winston-Salem, N.C., the top-seeded Aggies placed five players in double figures as the Bison's season came to an end in the quarterfinals of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference tournament.

Amber Bland led North Carolina A&T (24-6) with 20 points.

Howard (9-22) was led by Zykia Brown, who finished with 13 points, and Morgan Neal, who added 11.