DaShaun Wood scored 27 points and Will Graham hit four free throws in the last 12 seconds to lead Wright State past No. 19 Butler, 60-55, last night at Fairborn, Ohio, for the Horizon League postseason title.
The win earns Wright State its second trip to the NCAA Tournament and likely puts the squeeze on teams on the NCAA bubble. Butler figured to make the Big Dance, win or lose, but Wright State's bid likely will use up what would have been a coveted at-large slot.
Wood helped turn the tide after Butler (27-6) had scrambled from an 8-point deficit to take the lead in the final minutes.
With the score 52-52 and 1:25 left, Butler's A.J. Graves drove to the basket, but Wood blocked the shot from behind.
Then at the other end, Wood curled off a pick and hit a 3-pointer from the right wing with 1:06 left for a 55-52 lead.
With 11.6 seconds left and Wright State leading, 56-55, Graham, a 66-percent free throw shooter, made two.
Graves then rushed the ball up the court but missed a 3-pointer while trying to draw a foul with 4.5 seconds left. Graham again was fouled with 1.3 seconds left and sank two more.
Mid-Continent -- Ken Tutt banked in a jumper with 31.6 seconds left as Oral Roberts beat Oakland (Mich.), 71-67, at Tulsa to win the conference tournament and an automatic NCAA bid for the second straight year.
Caleb Green scored 28 points to become the league's career scoring leader, and Tutt had 20 points for the top-seeded Golden Eagles (23-10).
Erik Kangas, who hit six first-half 3-pointers to stake the No. 2 seed Golden Grizzlies (19-14) to an 11-point halftime lead, missed a three from the right wing that would have given Oakland the lead after Tutt's jumper from just to the right of the paint.
Adam Liberty added two free throws to ice the game for Oral Roberts.
Sun Belt -- Calvin Watson hit six 3-pointers and scored 24 points to help North Texas (23-10) get to its first NCAA Tournament since 1988 with an 83-75 victory over Arkansas State in the conference tournament championship at Lafayette, La.
Watson, the Mean Green's season and career leader in 3-pointers, had lost his range in recent games, but rediscovered it at the right time, hitting his first five against the Indians (18-15).
Big Sky -- Tyrone Bazy scored 20 points as Northern Arizona defeated Montana, 78-71, at Ogden, Utah, to advance to the conference championship game for the second straight year.
Women Ivy -- Harvard warmed up for the NCAA Tournament by closing the regular season with its 12th straight win, 72-54, over Dartmouth at Cambridge.
Katie Rollins had 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting and Niki Finelli scored 14 for the Crimson (15-12, 13-1).
Sun Belt -- Chrissy Givens scored 33 points to lead No. 16 Middle Tennessee (29-3) to its fourth straight conference championship in a 77-67 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette at Lafayette, La.
Mid-Continent -- Elisha Turek scored 18 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead third seed Oral Roberts (22-10) into the NCAAs for the second time in three years with a 72-55 win against top-seeded Oakland (19-12) at Tulsa.