San Diego, Davidson advance to NCAA tourney

Mar 11, 2008 - 6:47 AM By PA SportsTicker

Gonzaga and Davidson were looking to repeat in a busy Monday of conference tournament championships. Only Davidson got what it was searching for.

The 23rd-ranked Bulldogs were denied their fifth straight West Coast Conference tournament crown by San Diego, while 25th-ranked Davidson captured the Southern Conference tournament title with a 65-49 victory over Elon.

The Bulldogs (25-7) had won eight of the past nine WCC tournaments, with their only loss during that span coming against San Diego in 2003. History repeated itself thanks to De'Jon Jackson and Rob Jones.

Jackson scored 16 points and Jones added 15 for the Toreros (21-13), who had lost all 13 meetings with Gonzaga since winning that 2003 tournament crown.

It was a special win for San Diego coach Bill Grier, who got used to winning WCC titles while spending the past 16 years as an assistant coach at Gonzaga.

"I've been trying to convince these guys that they can step up and beat Gonzaga if they play the right way," Grier said. "This wasn't about going to the tournament. It was about taking the next step and beating their program."

WCC Player of the Year Jeremy Pargo scored 22 points for the Bulldogs but was the only Gonzaga player in double figures.

In the Southern Conference, Davidson claimed its third straight tournament title by knocking off up-start Elon.

Stephen Curry scored 23 points and Andrew Lovedale chipped in 10 for the Wildcats (26-6), who have won 22 straight games and own a 36-game winning streak against Southern Conference opponents.

"As a coach this is the most challenging, taxing, trying but exhilarating situation you can have," Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. "This is the Cyclone, the Wile Mouse, the Funhouse and the Parachute Jump at Coney Island when you're six and seven years old."

"When you play in a conference tournament, everyone is out to get (it) because it's everyone's last chance to get to the NCAA Tournament," Davidson's Jason Richards said. "What it comes down to was we executed our plays and got defensive stops."

The Phoenix (14-19) won an opening-round game over Furman on Friday before upsetting the second seed Tennessee-Chattanooga, 60-57, on Saturday. Elon then posted a 75-61 victory over sixth-seeded College of Charleston on Sunday.

Two other teams advanced to the NCAAs on Monday as George Mason clinched its second NCAA Tournament appearance in the last three years with a 68-59 victory over William & Mary in the Colonial Athletic Association final.

The Patriots (23-10), who were selected as an at-large team when they made it to the Final Four in 2006, denied William & Mary (17-15) its first-ever trip to the "Big Dance."

William & Mary advanced to the final after knocking out the tournament's top seed, Virginia Commonwealth, 56-54, on Sunday. Virginia Commonwealth (24-7) won the regular-season title by three games but now sits on the tournament bubble and saw its tournament chances take a hit with San Diego's upset victory.

In the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship, Siena roughed up Rider, 74-53, to win a matchup between the top two seeds.

The top-seeded Saints (23-10) were paced by seniors Folarin Campbell and Will Thomas.

Campbell, who was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, had 20 points and four assists and Thomas posted his league-leading 15th double-double of the season with 18 points and 13 rebounds.

Drake, Winthrop, Austin Peay, Belmont and Cornell have already earned spots in the tournament.

Cornell was the first team to claim an automatic bid on March 1 en route to completing a perfect season in the Ivy League. The Ivy League is the only Division I conference that does not host a postseason tournament.