USA - Lord of the Maynor leads VCU past Patriots

NEW YORK (NCAA) - Eric Maynor came up with a pair of key steals late and scored nine of the Virginia Commonwealth’s last 13 points to lead the Rams to a 65-59 victory Monday over George Mason in the Colonial Athletic Association championship game.

Maynor scored 14 of his 20 points in the second half and added seven rebounds and four assists for VCU (27-6), the regular-season conference champions who would have been strong candidates but not a lock for an at-large bid in the upcoming NCAA tournament if they would have lost.

Last season, George Mason received a surprising at-large bid and proved worthy, knocking off big-name powers Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut to reach the Final Four before losing to eventual national champion Florida.

The Patriots (18-15), had dropped five of their last seven regular-season games and were seeded sixth in this 12-team tournament.

Over the weekend, they evoked memories of last March, ousting third-seeded Hofstra in the quarter-finals before upsetting second-seeded Old Dominion in Sunday's semi-finals.

"The team played this weekend like we wanted to play all season but it just took us all season to get there," George Mason coach Jim Larranaga said.

Joining VCU as a regular season and conference tournament champion on Monday were Gonzaga, who posted a 77-68 victory over Santa Clara in the West Coast Conference championship game.

The top-seeded Bulldogs punched their return ticket to the "Big Dance" thanks to guard Derek Raivio, who scored 28 points.

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference bid for the second time in three years went to Niagara (22-11), who posted an 83-79 victory over Siena. It was the Purple Eagles' 11th straight win and avenged a pair of regular season losses to the Saints (20-12).

Tyrone Lewis scored a career-high 24 points and had five steals. He scored 59 points during the three games to earn tournament MVP honors.

FIBA