Liberty wins NCAA berth

John Caleb Sanders had 27 points, Davon Marshall added 20 off six 3-pointers and Liberty defeated Charleston Southern 87-76 to win the Big South Conference basketball tournament in Conway, S.C., and reach the NCAA tournament with a 15-20 record. The Flames opened the season 0-8 and reached 20 losses in their next-to-last regular-season game. But Liberty got hot at the right time with a five-game winning streak, the last four at the conference tournament to gain their first NCAA trip since 2004. Women’s qualifiers so far include Duke (ACC), Liberty (Big South), Princeton (Ivy), Purdue (Big Ten), Stetson (Atlantic Sun) and UT Martin (OVC). – AP