Conference finals roundup: Wright St., Hofstra win in dramatic fashion

TJ Burch scored 16 of his 19 points in the second half and top-seeded Wright State had to rally from down 12 in the final 10 minutes to pull out a 66-63 win over third seed Detroit Mercy in the Horizon League championship game Tuesday night in Indianapolis.

The Raiders (23-11) will make their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2022. Kellen Pickett scored 17 points, Michael Imariagbe had 12 and both players added seven rebounds for Wright State.

Reserve Logan Woods saved his only two baskets for the perfect time. He knocked down two 3-pointers in the final 2:11 to turn a tied game into a six-point margin that Detroit could not escape. Wright State held its opponents to three made field goals in the final 9:51.

The Titans (17-15) were aiming to get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012. Orlando Lovejoy scored a game-high 26 points for the Titans and TJ Nadeau added 21 -- including a personal 10-0 run early in the second half to make it a double-digit game.

Hofstra 75, Monmouth 69

Freshman Preston Edmead went off for 26 points and hit a key 3-pointer late in the second half, lifting the third-seeded Pride past the fourth-seeded Hawks in the CAA title game in Washington.

Edmead's triple with 3:26 to go made it 64-58, but Hofstra (24-10) still had work to do after Justin Ray's 3-pointer cut it to 66-65 with 1:18 to go. German Plotnikov (10 points) buried a trey 20 seconds later for Hofstra, which will go dancing for the first time since 2001 after its 2020 CAA title was overruled by the COVID-19 pandemic and the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament.

Kavion McClain had 19 points, six assists and four 3-pointers for Monmouth (19-15), the fourth coming on a four-point play with nine seconds to go that brought his team within two before Cruz Davis (12 points) and Plotnikov salted it away from the line.

Long Island 79, Mercyhurst 70

The top-seeded Sharks defeated the third-seeded Lakers in the NEC title game in New York and will head to their first NCAA Tournament. LIU was already guaranteed the berth because Mercyhurst is ineligible for the postseason as a team transitioning to Division I.

Malachi Davis and Greg Gordon each finished with 24 points and four assists for LIU (24-10). Mason Porter-Brown had 14 points and three steals off the bench and Jamal Fuller tallied 10 points, 13 rebounds and five assists. The Sharks never led by more than nine but shot 55.8% from the floor.

Bernie Blunt III poured in 26 points on 10-of-18 shooting and Qadir Martin put up 20 points and 14 rebounds for Mercyhurst (17-17).

--Field Level Media