Unranked Cal Poly Pomona earns a spot in title game

SPRINGFIELD, MASS —  . -- Larry Gordon had 20 points and 11 rebounds and Cal Poly Pomona withstood a late Augusta State rally for a 74-70 win and a spot in the NCAA Division II championship game.

Trying to become the first unranked team to win the Division II title since North Alabama in 1979, the Broncos (25-7) earned a spot in Saturday’s title game.

They will play Findlay (Ohio) (35-0), which beat Central Missouri, 67-65, in Thursday’s other semifinal game.

Tobias Jahn, Walter Thompson and Robert Summers scored 11 points each for Cal Poly Pomona, which had a 36-31 rebounding edge despite the presence of Garret Siler, Augusta State’s 7-foot senior.

Siler scored 17 points and had nine rebounds. Fred Brathwaite led the Jaguars (30-5), who had won 16 straight, with 21 points.

Augusta State lost to Winona (Minn.) State in the 2008 championship game.

Trailing 61-50 with six minutes to play, Augusta State briefly took the lead when Daniel Dixon’s three-pointer made it 66-65 with 3:16 left. The teams exchanged baskets before Jahn, a 6-foot-9 sophomore from Germany, scored to give Cal Poly Pomona the lead for good at 69-68 with 1:35 left.

The Broncos led 31-27 at halftime. Augusta State made four of five three-pointers during its comeback surge, but was only five for 21 for the game.