INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Pace Prosser totaled 28 points and 11 rebounds and Gannon beat Lander 84-61 on Sunday to win the Division II Championship.
Prosser made 10 of 19 shots with four 3-pointers for the Golden Knights (34-3) in a battle between two teams aiming for a first national championship. Prosser added five assists and five steals. Lucas Sekasi finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Mackenzie Morgan added 12 points and seven rebounds, while his twin brother Lucas scored 11.
Dylan Canoville totaled 14 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Bearcats (30-6), who saw a 15-game winning streak end. Jacob Daniels and Greyson Pritzl both scored 11.
Second-year coach Easton Bazzoli led the third-seeded Golden Knights of Erie, Pennsylvania, to the title three years after a three-win season.
Prosser and Layne Sarver sank two straight 3-pointers in a 15-0 run that began and ended with baskets by Sekasi and the Golden Knights took a 20-9 lead. Canoville’s rebound basket ended the run as Lander scored six straight, but Prosser hit two 3-pointers in the final 1:11 for a 37-21 advantage at halftime.
Mackenzie Morgan hit back-to-back 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the second half and Gannon upped its advantage to 43-22. The Bearcats got no closer than 14 from there.
Coach Omar Wattad and No. 5 seed Lander, out of Greenwood, S.C., upset defending champion and top seed Nova Southeastern 91-81 in the semifinals.
Gannon advanced to the title game one other time — in 1987 — but it ended in a 92-74 loss to Kentucky Wesleyan.
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Gannon adds 95.3 per game and has topped 100 13 times this season. Gannon uses full-court trap.
Lander coach is Omar Wattad.