George Washington, Valpo reach NIT finals

Published 2:48 am Wednesday, March 30, 2016

NEW YORK (AP) — David Skara sank the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 20 seconds left and Valparaiso held off BYU 72-70 on Tuesday night to reach the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament.

Skara came off the bench to score a season-high 15 points, none bigger than his jumper that gave the top-seeded Crusaders (30-6) a 71-68 advantage after they had squandered a 16-point cushion.

Alec Peters also had 15 points for the Crusaders, who will play for the title Thursday night at Madison Square Garden against George Washington.

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Kyle Collinsworth paced the Cougars (26-11) with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in his final college game. Nick Emery scored 18 and Chase Fischer added 16.

George Washington 65,

San Diego St. 46

NEW YORK (AP) — Tyler Cavanaugh had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and George Washington advanced to the championship game of the National Invitation Tournament by throttling San Diego State in a 65-46 victory Tuesday night.

Patricio Garino added 13 points for the fourth-seeded Colonials (27-10), who matched the school record for wins in a season and won in their first visit to Madison Square Garden since 2001.

George Washington will play for the crown Thursday night against Valparaiso, a 72-70 winner over BYU in the first semifinal.

Dakarai Allen scored 13 points for No. 2 seed San Diego State (28-10), which struggled to score at times throughout the season and had a dreadful shooting night at the worst time. The Aztecs fell behind by double digits late in the first half and shot 28.8 percent from the field, including 3 for 22 from 3-point range.