Amherst got the Salem monkey off its back, as Tim McLaughlin scored 16 points and Andrew Olson added 15 points and nine assists to lead the Lord Jeffs to their first national title game, defeating Wooster 67-60.

Amherst, which had lost in the semifinals and the third-place game on each of its two previous trips to the Final Four, advanced to the national title game for the first time. Photo gallery. The Lord Jeffs held on after Wooster rallied from a 14-point halftime deficit to take a second-half lead. Amherst held Wooster without a field goal in the final 4:49 of the game.

Amherst will face the defending national champion, Virginia Wesleyan, which advanced 67-65 after an attempted buzzer beater went off late for Washington U.

The Bears, who led at the half, fell behind 62-53 late in the second half as TonTon Balenga, who broke his nose shortly before halftime, scored 10 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer to tie the game for the Marlins. Wash U went on an 11-0 run to take a 64-62 lead, but the Marlins answered and held on as the Bears had a chance to take the lead with 9.2 seconds left, then another to tie at the buzzer. However, Zach Kelly's 15-footer fell short, and a putback attempt was late.

Video evidence was not used in the ruling; however, a review of the NCAASports.com video archive showed the ball still in the shooter's hands with the lights on and the clock reading all zeroes.

Amherst and Virginia Wesleyan will play for the title at 5 p.m. tomorrow. Audio pregame coverage begins with the pregame show and coaches' roundtable at 1:30, followed by the third-place game at 2:30.