Phelan Wins No. 800, Earns Bid

Jim Phelan became the fourth coach in college basketball history to win 800 games as Mount St. Mary’s (15-14) earned him his second trip to the NCAA tournament by defeating Central Connecticut State, 72-56, in the Northeast Conference tournament championship game Monday night at New York.

Phelan, who has been at the small Catholic school in Maryland for 45 seasons, joins Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp and Clarence “Big House” Gaines in the 800-win club.

Phelan and his bow tie got there with some solid defense as the Mounties held the fourth-seeded Blue Devils (19-13) to one field goal over the final eight minutes and to 29% shooting.

Gregory Harris scored 20 points for Mount St. Mary’s, whose only other NCAA tournament appearance was in 1995.

Creighton 70, Evansville 61--Rodney Buford scored nine of his 21 points in a crucial 1:44 second-half sequence as the Bluejays (21-8) beat the top-seeded Purple Aces (23-9) in the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament at St. Louis.

Buford also had 13 rebounds and sophomore Ben Walker had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Creighton, which last went to the NCAA tournament in 1991.

Siena 82, St. Peter’s 67--Scott Knapp made four of six three-point shots and Marcus Faison scored 17 points to lead the Saints, the third highest-scoring team in Division I behind Duke and Texas Christian, to a victory in the Metro Atlantic Conference tournament championship game at Buffalo. Siena’s last appearance in the NCAA tournament was 1989, when they beat Stanford and lost to Minnesota.

OTHER TOURNAMENTS

Mid-Continent--Oral Roberts (17-10) made 19 of 23 free throws and Youngstown State (14-14) only seven of 11 and the Golden Eagles won, 72-58, in the semifinals at Moline, Ill. . . . Lubos Barton scored 24 points and Valparaiso (22-8) kept its chances of a fifth straight Mid-Continent title alive with a 77-59 victory over Western Illinois (16-12).

Mid-Eastern Athletic--Kevin George had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Florida A&M; (9-18) held Howard (2-25) to 25% shooting in a 68-46 victory in a first-round game at Richmond, Va.

WOMEN

Big Ten--Stephanie White-McCarty scored 31 points and made four free throws in the final 33 seconds to lead No. 1 Purdue (28-1) to an 80-76 victory over Illinois in the championship game at Indianapolis. White-McCarty was named tournament MVP as Purdue won its second straight tournament title.

ACC--No. 13 Clemson (24-5) used a relentless inside game and some timely outside shooting to win its second Atlantic Coast Conference title with an 87-72 victory against No. 11 North Carolina (26-7) at Charlotte, N.C.

Atlantic 10--Susan Moran scored 15 of her 24 points in the second half as St. Joseph’s (22-7) defeated Xavier, 85-73, to win the conference tournament championship at Philadelphia.

Conference USA--Grace Daley scored 19 points to lead Tulane (22-5) to a 58-44 victory over Cincinnati (22-8) in the tournament championship game at New Orleans.

Mid-American--Jennifer Markwood scored 17 points and pulled down 11 rebounds as Toledo (25-5) rolled to a 65-50 victory over Kent (22-7) in the tournament championship game at Toledo, Ohio.

Big East--No. 6 Connecticut (26-4) held Georgetown (18-11) to its season-low point total to win, 77-42, and advance to the championship game at Piscataway, N.J. . . . Sheila McMillen and Niele Ivey combined for seven three-point baskets in a 43-point first-half that led No. 8 Notre Dame (25-3) to a 68-61 victory over No. 7 Rutgers (26-5) in the other semifinal.