Box Score: Broncos 71, Bentley 63

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- For the second straight year the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos will play in the NCAA Elite Eight Championship game.

Behind the effort of senior Austin Swift's game-high 22 points, the Broncos outgunned Bentley (Mass.) down the stretch and earned a 71-63 victory over the Falcons on Thursday night before a crowd of 2,194 at the MassMutual Center located in the birthplace of the sport.

"Our guys find the will to win, and you're looking at two of them who have stepped up so big,'' said Coach Greg Kamansky of his two seniors -- Swift and Dahir Nasser. "We've played so hard and competed so well. It's infectious because what they do on the court trickles down to others. They make their teammates better players.''

The Broncos (27-6) will go after their first NCAA title when they face 2nd-ranked Indiana University of Pennsylvania at 1:00 p.m. EDT/10 a.m. PDT for the national championship. 

The game will be nationally telecast by CBS.

Nasser pumped in 11, along with junior Tobias Jahn. Freshman reserve Mitchel Anderson added 10 as the Broncos, who won their school-record 27th game, fired 27-of-53 for the game and dominated in the paint all night, outscoring the Falcons 30-14 inside the lane.

All season long the Broncos have earned a reputation for stellar defense and they showed again in a game played before a partisan crowd as Bentley's campus is located approximately an hour and half east in suburban Boston.

CPP shut down the Falcons' vaunted offense and did not allow a field goal over a six-minute span that began with 6:45 left in the contest. After the Falcons' Brian Tracey hit a 3-pointer to cut CPP's lead to 57-53, the Broncos bore down as Bentley missed seven straight field goal attempts, including two blown lauyp attempts by Player of the Year Jason Westrol.

CPP outscored Bentley 10-3 over that 6-minute span and pulled away to reach the NCAA title game for the second straight year.

Nasser punched in a 3-pointer from the right side that pushed CPP up 60-53 with 4:40 left. After John Brandt's two free throws, each team was scoreless. A big play during that stretch occurred when sophomore Dwayne Fells swatted away a Joe Fremeau layup attempt.

Leading 60-55, the Broncos looked to extend the lead when Donnelle Booker had a one-and-one with 1:42 left. He missed the front end and the Falcons' NABC Player of the Year Jason Westrol drove the lane, but missed a layup.

Bentley then fouled junior Mark Rutledge, who hit both free throws and CPP led 62-55 with 1:12 remaining.

After an errant 3-point effort from John Brandt, Tracey gathered the rebound and was fouled by Booker. He missed the first, but scored the second, setting up the clincher.

CPP inbounded the ball under Bentley's basket and sophomore Matthew Rosser was sent running down court. A baseball pass was safely delivered and the Temecula native rammed home a dunk and was fouled.

He converted the 3-point play and CPP led 65-56 with 1:01 left.

Bentley (26-7) was led  by Tracey's 17 points. Westrol added 15 on just 4-of-16 shooting. 

CPP enjoyed a 34-26 lead at halftime, thanks to a 9-0 run to close the final 3:46.