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James Madison tourney-bound

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James Madison guard Andre Nation (15) celebrates with teammates Devon Moore (40) and Ron Curry (2) in Richmond, Va., Monday.

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James Madison forward Taylor Bessick gets a hug from his mother, Lori Curry, after winning the Colonial Athletic Conference tournament championship in Richmond, Va., Monday.

RICHMOND, Va. – A.J. Davis scored 26 points and James Madison put together an early 23-1 run before holding off a furious rally to beat Northeastern 70-57 on Monday night in the Colonial Athletic Association championship game.

Rayshawn Goins added 14 points and 13 rebounds for the third-seeded Dukes (20-14), who won their conference tournament for the first time to earn their first berth in the NCAA tournament since 1994.

Jonathan Lee led the regular-season champion Huskies (20-12) with 14 points, all in the second half. Northeastern rallied from a 31-7 deficit to beat George Mason 69-67 in the closing seconds of their semifinal matchup Sunday but couldn’t pull off another comeback one night later.

The Huskies, who haven’t been to the NCAAs since 1991, trailed 51-43 with 8:23 to go before James Madison used a 10-3 run to settle things down.

Andre Nation added 10 points for James Madison, including three critical free throws with 7:46 to play to end a 19-8 run that had brought the Huskies within 51-4 – quieting the heavily partisan crowd at the Richmond Coliseum.

The Huskies, who had played one fewer game in the tournament because of a first-round bye, closed to 61-50 on a 3-pointer by David Walker with 4 minutes left but got no closer.

Northeastern’s comeback against George Mason had been the largest in the 93-year history of the program, so the start to Monday’s game seemed a bit shocking and proved decisive.

Western Kentucky beats FIU 65-63 in Sun Belt final: George Fant had 17 points and 13 rebounds and Western Kentucky earned its second straight NCAA tournament berth with a 65-63 win over Florida International in the Sun Belt Conference championship game Monday night.

The fifth-seeded Hilltoppers (20-15) used the same script as last season, winning four games in four days to secure their fourth NCAA tournament appearance in six seasons. They capped the run by never trailing in the second half and holding on against the resurgent Panthers.

Florida International (18-14) led by as many as eight in the first half one night after shocking top-seeded Middle Tennessee, but the Panthers were unable to overcome 24-of-62 shooting.

Cameron Bell led Florida International with 15 points.

Brooks leads Davidson to SoCon championship 74-55: De’Mon Brooks had 24 points and eight rebounds, and the Davidson Wildcats defended their Southern Conference championship with a wire-to-wire 74-55 victory over the College of Charleston on Monday night.

With two-time conference player of the year Jake Cohen in foul trouble most of the game, Brooks turned in a dominating inside performance showing a variety of moves the Cougars simply couldn’t defend and was selected the tournament MVP.

JP Kuhlman chipped in with 14 points and Nick Cochran had 10. Cohen had 12 points despite playing less than half of the game.

Unlike a year ago when Davidson blew a 13-point lead with 2:47 left in the title game and needed double overtime to defeat Western Carolina, the Wildcats left no doubt about the outcome of this one.

Noel to have surgery Tuesday on injured left knee: Kentucky freshman Nerlens Noel will have surgery on his injured left knee Tuesday, a move that could offer a hint about his future with the Wildcats.

Famed orthopedic surgeon James Andrews will perform the operation to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in Gulf Breeze, Fla. Scott Mair of University of Kentucky Sports Medicine will observe and coordinate Noel’s rehabilitation, which is expected to take six to eight months.

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