SMU season ends as Dia goes down

DALLAS (AP) – Kevin Foster scored 35 points, Troy Payne added 15 and Santa Clara beat SMU 72-55 Friday night to reach the championship of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament. Robert Nyakundi led SMU with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The Mustangs spent most of the game without leading scorer (18.3 ppg) and rebounder (9.6 rpg) Papa Dia. Dia suffered an ankle injury when he was fouled on a layup with 8:18 left in the first half. Justin Haynes went to the line and made both free throws. Dia had four points and five rebounds in 11 minutes.

Collin Mangrum added 13 points in his final game for SMU. Senior co-captain Mike Walker totaled six points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals while fellow captain Ryan Harp had five points and four rebounds to conclude his SMU career.

Santa Clara (23-14) will face Iona or East Tennessee State, who play Saturday. SMU (20-15), finished with its first 20-win season since 1999-2000.

Foster sealed the victory with a four-point play with 2:14 left. With two seconds left on the shot clock, he drained a 3 from the left wing while getting fouled to give the Broncos a commanding 66-54 lead.

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