Conference finals roundup: VCU, Yale win titles

Max Shulga scored 12 of his game-high 18 points after halftime and No. 1 seed VCU never trailed in a narrow 68-63 victory over No. 2 seed George Mason to win the Atlantic-10 championship game on Sunday in Washington, D.C. The Rams (28-6) punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years by outshooting the Patriots 40.4 percent to 33.9 percent from the field, which made up for 16 VCU turnovers. Shulga made a layup to beat the first-half buzzer, and the resulting 36-28 lead was the largest of the game to that point. VCU led by 10 points just once in the second half before George Mason (26-8) closed to within 59-58 on Darius Maddox's 3-pointer. Shulga answered with a 3-pointer on VCU's next possession. Jack Clark and Joe Bamisile each scored 17 points for VCU. Jalen Haynes paced George Mason with 17 points and eight rebounds, while Maddox finished with 12 points and Brayden O'Connor and Zach Anderson scored 10 apiece. Yale 90, Cornell 84 John Poulakidas poured in 25 points with five 3-pointers and the top-seeded Bulldogs held off the second-seeded Big Red to win the Ivy League title in Providence, R.I. Nick Townsend scored 19, Casey Simmons had 13 and Bez Mbeng racked up 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Yale (22-7), which won the Ivy for the second year in a row. The regular-season champs hung on after a 16-point second-half lead was trimmed to two. AK Okereke had 22 points, eight rebounds and five assists to guide Cornell (18-11), which outshot Yale 55.8 percent to 50 percent from the field, though Yale hit 13 3-pointers to Cornell's 11. Nazir Williams had 20 points, Guy Ragland Jr. had 16 and Jake Fiegen added 11 for the Big Red. --Field Level Media