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CIT Wednesday Roundup: A trio of close contests yield three semifinalists

Three teams punched a ticket to the semifinals of the CIT Wednesday night with one game still to be played Thursday.

By Kaleb Carter
Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

Coastal Carolina 60 Grand Canyon 58

Neither team set the world aflame from the floor, but the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers were the ones to push off the end to their season on Wednesday night.

Elijah Wilson netted 16 and made the game winning bucket with two seconds remaining to put CCU over the top of the visiting Antelopes.

Two Chanticleers put up 10 points off the bench and the Chanticleers defense clamped down to help win the game.

Grand Canyon finished the season at 27-7.

Columbia 69 Ball State 67

Fouled with 1.9 seconds remaining, Sean Sellers went to the free throw line for a chance to send his team (Ball State) into overtime two makes. He missed the first.

After a timeout, he intentionally missed the second but Luke Petrasek grabbed the rebound and tossed the ball away to end the game. The game could have gone either way as the two squads tossed the lead to and fro for much of the night.

Alex Rosenberg scored 18 points and was the leading scorer in a game where his team shot the ball 11 percent worse from the floor than the losing Cardinals. The difference for the Lions was the 27 trips that they made to the free throw line (they hit 20).

Trey Moses put up 15 points while Bo Calhoun and Franko House posted point totals of 10 and 12 respectively as Ball State ended the year 21-14. That mark represents a remarkable improvement for Coach James Whitford's squad in a program that ended last season with a single-digit win total.

UC Irvine 67 Louisiana Lafayette 66

Alex Young stepped up in the form of a 21-point game and hit 5 3-pointers but he didn't produce the biggest play of the night for UC Irvine.

The Anteaters fought with the lead for almost the entirety of the second half before yielding it on a Jay Wright jumper with 23 seconds to go. But the 66-65 lead didn't last for the Ragin' Cajuns.

UC Irvine did this without Mamadou Ndiaye.

Louisiana Lafayette had four guys in double figures but no one with more than 13 points. The Cajuns were held to 32.9 percent shooting from the floor and 20.9 percent from beyond the 3-point line. The Cajuns end their season at 19-15 while the Anteaters move along to the CIT semis.

UT-Arlington and NJIT will duke it out tomorrow for the chance to advance to the semis as well.

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