Ball State Advances to MAC Title Game

Patrick Jackson made a three-point attempt as the shot clock expired and Duane Clemens scored 35 points as Ball State advanced to Wednesday’s championship of the Mid-American Conference tournament with a 70-67 semifinal victory over Ohio at Cleveland on Monday night.

In the other semifinal, Jason Stewart made 10 three-point shots to lead Miami of Ohio to a 69-63 victory over Marshall. Stewart finished with 32 points for the No. 9-seeded RedHawks. Fifth-seeded Marshall finished 21-9.

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In other men’s tournaments, Iona upset Siena, 84-80, in the Metro Athletic Atlantic Conference final at Albany, N.Y.; Creighton made nine three-point shots in beating Southwest Missouri State, 57-45, in the Missouri Valley Conference championship game at St. Louis; Central Connecticut State earned its first NCAA berth since joining Division I in 1986, beating Robert Morris, 63-46, for the Northeast Conference championship at Trenton, N.J., and North Carolina Wilmington beat Richmond, 57-47, at Richmond, Va., in the Colonial Athletic Assn. final.

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In women’s games, No. 1 Connecticut beat No. 17 Boston College, 79-54, in the semifinals of the Big East tournament at Storrs, Conn., to advance to tonight’s title game against No. 8 Rutgers, an 81-72 overtime winner over No. 5 Notre Dame; No. 11 Duke beat North Carolina, 79-76, as the Blue Devils won their first Atlantic Coast Conference championship; No. 21 Tulane recorded a 73-70 victory over Alabama Birmingham in the final of the Conference USA tournament at Louisville, and Xavier won its first Atlantic 10 title with an 80-66 victory over No. 23 George Washington at Philadelphia.