Three mid-major schools stake their claims to the NCAA tournament last night, including one that finished the regular season with just 12 wins.

In Tulsa, Pierre Dukes hit a 3-pointer with 1.3 seconds left and Oakland upset top-seeded Oral Roberts 61-60 last night to win the Mid-Continent Conference tournament and go to the big dance with a 12-18 record.

The seventh-seeded Golden Grizzlies are in the tournament for the first time in the program’s eight seasons at Division I.

Cortney Scott scored 19 points and Rawle Marshall had 18 for Oakland, which had lost to Oral Roberts twice during the regular season.

Caleb Green scored 13 points and Tutt added 12 for the Golden Eagles (25-7), who were seeking their first NCAA tournament appearance in 21 years.

In Denton, Texas, Tiras Wade scored 21 of his 30 points in the second half and Chris Cameron hit three timely 3-pointers, carrying Louisiana-Lafayette past Denver 88-69 in the finals of the Sun Belt tournament and putting the Ragin’ Cajuns into the NCAA tournament for a second straight year.

Cameron broke a halftime tie with a 3-pointer and Louisiana-Lafayette (20-10) controlled the game the rest of the way. Denver (20-10) made a last push for its first-ever berth into the NCAA Division I tournament, getting within 70-63 with 5:28 left. But the Cajuns closed with a 18-6 run.

In Milwaukee, Adrian Tigert sank a free throw with 4.2 seconds left, giving Wisconsin-Milwaukee a 59-58 win over Detroit in the Horizon League championship and the second NCAA tournament berth in school history.

The Panthers (24-5) trailed most of the night and missed 11-of-24 free throws, including Tigert’s first free throw at 4.2 seconds.

Freshman Brandon Cotton, who led all scorers with 21 points, brought the ball upcourt and was off-target on a contested jumper that would have sent the Titans to the NCAA tournament at 15-15.

Ed McCants’s 18 points led the Panthers, who held Detroit scoreless over the final 2 1 / 2 minutes to avoid losing the tournament title game at home for the second straight season.

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ILLINOIS’S BROWN WINS BIG TEN HONORS

Illinois guard Dee Brown was named Big Ten player of the year yesterday by the league’s coaches and press, and the press selected Illini coach Bruce Weber as the conference’s coach of the year. Brown also was named defensive player of the year and joins fellow guards Luther Head and Deron Williams as first-team All-Big Ten selections. Minnesota’s Vincent Grier and Mike Wilkinson of Wisconsin are the first-team selections.

– Associated Press