EVANSVILLE, Indiana -- Despite NBA evidence to the contrary, a Mr. Mutombo still lives in Denver.

Unlike his famous cousin Dikembe, Patrick, who plays for Metropolitan State College of Denver, is more known for his offense than his defense. He's also got something Dikembe, who gained collegiate fame playing for Georgetown, will never have -- two NCAA championships.

The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference co-Player of the Year scored a game-high 29 points, 23 of them in the second half, as the 22nd-ranked Roadrunners upset top-ranked defending champion Kentucky Wesleyan, 80-72, March 25 in front of a partisan Panthers crowd in Evansville, Indiana. The Kentucky Wesleyan hometown of Owensboro sits just across the Ohio River from the Indiana river city where the first Division II championship was played in 1957. The championship-game attendance figure of 5,119 was the largest since 6,685 watched in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1994, the last year that site hosted.

"Our players sacrificed for the player with the hot hand," said Metropolitan State coach Mike Dunlap, whose team won its second championship in the last three years and faced Kentucky Wesleyan in the title game for the third time in four years. "Patrick found the gaps. We had four players who understood that we needed to get Patrick the ball 18 feet from the basket and let him go from there."

A native of the Congo who lists his home as Liege, Belgium, and speaks four languages, including French and two African dialects, Mutombo chose English to express his appreciation to his teammates shortly after bidding a CBS national television audience "au reviour" in the postgame television interview.

"It was a great feeling knowing that I was delivering for my teammates in the second half," said the Elite Eight's most outstanding player. "My teammates did a great job setting picks and working to get the ball to me."

The Panthers led, 32-28, at halftime but the Roadrunners took the lead for good on a layup by Lee Bethea to make the score 46-44 with 12:42 left.

Metropolitan State built that lead to as much as nine points before Kentucky Wesleyan whittled the gap to 66-62 after a free throw by strongman Marshall Sanders, a boxer in the off-season, seemingly ignited Kentucky Wesleyan toward one of its trademark runs with 2:50 remaining.

"We knew that they would have three times in the game where they would grab us by the neck, throw us to the ground and shake us around," Dunlap said, figuratively describing the explosiveness of the larger, stronger defending champions.

But after the teams traded baskets, Metropolitan State answered by building its biggest lead of the game, 79-68, with 16 seconds left.

"The heart of the game was controlling the tempo," Dunlap said. "We knew we couldn't run with them. We had to shorten the game, and at halftime we were in great shape with the tempo."

Panthers coach Ray Harper pointed toward Metropolitan State's defense and hot shooting as being factors that led to the loss.

"We knew their defensive pressure would be the key," Harper said. "They shot 66 percent in the second half, and you can't beat a team like that when you combine those two factors."

Metropolitan State finished with a 29-6 record. Kentucky Wesleyan, a team that enjoyed its fifth consecutive 30-win season, all under Harper, ended at 31-3.

Mutombo was joined on the all-tournament team by Metropolitan State point guard Clayton Smith, who hounded the Kentucky Wesleyan guards all day and had 12 assists to more than compensate for his four turnovers. Smith also added four steals. The Panthers' all-American Ronald Evans and Chris Landry also made the team, as did Division II Player of the Year Ronald Murray of Shaw.

SEMIFINALS

Metro St. 82, Indiana (Pa.) 52

Metro St.: Patrick Mutombo 6-10, 5-5, 1, 17; Lester Strong 4-6, 1-2, 5, 9; Lee Bethea 6-13, 0-0, 5, 15; Luke Kendall 4-11, 2-3, 3, 12; Clayton Smith 4-5, 0-2, 4, 8; Joe Kelly 1-3, 0-0, 0, 3; O.J. Thomas 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Mark Worthington 0-1, 0-2, 0, 0; Mike Buggs 4-5, 8-10, 3, 16; Chris Ford 1-1, 0-0, 0, 2; Ryon Nickle 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Ben Ortner 0-1, 0-0, 4, 0. TOTALS: 30-56, 16-24, 33 (7 team), 82.

Indiana (Pa.): Leon Piper 3-6, 3-5, 7, 9; Fannar Olafsson 2-3, 0-0, 1, 4; Dennis Mims 4-6, 3-6, 9, 11; Wes Layton 2-4, 0-0, 3, 6; Aaron Faulkner 1-12, 2-2, 2, 4; Sean Whalen 0-3, 0-0, 0, 0; Eric Castorina 1-2, 3-4, 0, 5; Chad Curran 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Mike Mangel 1-2, 0-0, 0, 3; Keenan Holmes 3-6, 1-4, 3, 8; Felix Davila 1-3, 0-0, 1, 2. TOTALS: 18-47, 12-21, 32 (5 team), 52.

Halftime: Metro St. 39, Indiana (Pa.) 15. Three-point field goals: Metro St. 6-16 (Mutombo 0-1, Bethea 3-7, Kendall 2-3, Kelly 1-3, Worthington 0-1, Buggs 0-1); Indiana (Pa.) 4-19 (Layton 2-4, Faulkner 0-7, Whalen 0-3, Castorina 0-1, Mangel 1-2, Holmes 1-2). Disqualifications: None.

Ky. Wesleyan 101, Shaw 92

Ky. Wesleyan: Tyrus Boswell 5-10, 2-5, 5, 12; Ronald Evans 6-18, 6-6, 6, 21; DeWayne Floyd 1-2, 1-2, 4, 3; Chris Landry 6-11, 5-6, 8, 19; Beau Green 3-4, 0-0, 0, 6; Gene Evans 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Dewayne Rogers 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Matt Enos 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Trey Ferguson 0-1, 2-2, 1, 2; Bobby Zuerner 5-9, 8-10, 2, 22; Nathan Fortener 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; J.T. Riddle 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Jeff McGowan 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Marshall Sanders 4-7, 8-10, 11, 16. TOTALS: 30-62, 32-41, 43 (5 team), 101.

Shaw: Ronald Murray 10-21, 2-4, 9, 23; Kenyon Booker 5-10, 2-2, 7, 12; Steve Bynes 4-5, 0-0, 0, 8; Gerald Raymond 2-11, 2-2, 2, 6; Cedric Lusk 2-2, 0-0, 4, 6; Willie Donaldson 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Leroy Mosley 0-1, 0-0, 1, 0; Van Williams 3-8, 0-0, 0, 8; Harrell Butler 2-3, 1-2, 2, 5; Jarett Kearse 8-12, 2-3, 2, 24; Clarence Taylor 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0. TOTALS: 36-73, 9-13, 32 (5 team), 92.

Halftime: Ky. Wesleyan 41, Shaw 40. Three-point field goals: Ky. Wesleyan 9-22 (Boswell 0-1, Evans 3-8, Landry 2-4, Green 0-1, Ferguson 0-1, Zuerner 4-7); Shaw 11-29 (Murray 1-4, Raymond 0-7, Lusk 2-2, Williams 2-7, Kearse 6-9). Disqualifications: Murray.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Metro St. 80, Ky. Wesleyan 72

Ky. Wesleyan: Tyrus Boswell 3-4, 0-0, 6, 6; Ronald Evans 5-14, 1-2, 6, 12; DeWayne Floyd 1-4, 0-0, 2, 3; Chris Landry 7-15, 1-3, 6, 17; Beau Green 2-4, 4-4, 1, 9; Gene Evans 0-0, 0-0, 0, 0; Dewayne Rogers 1-3, 0-0, 2, 2; Trey Ferguson 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; Bobby Zuerner 2-8, 4-4, 1, 10; Marshall Sanders 4-7, 5-7, 12, 13. TOTALS: 25-60, 15-20, 39 (3 team), 72.

Metro St.: Luke Kendall 4-12, 0-0, 1, 8; Patrick Mutombo 12-21, 5-6, 6, 29; Lester Strong 5-8, 1-2, 11, 11; Lee Bethea 7-13, 4-4, 2, 19; Clayton Smith 3-3, 3-6, 1, 9; Joe Kelly 0-1, 0-0, 0, 0; O.J. Thomas 0-0, 0-0, 1, 0; Mark Worthington 0-2, 0-0, 1, 0; Mike Buggs 1-2, 2-2, 1, 4; Ben Ortner 0-0, 0-1, 2, 0. TOTALS: 32-62, 15-21, 30 (5 team), 80.

Halftime: Ky. Wesleyan 32, Metro St. 28. Three-point field goals: Ky. Wesleyan 7-24 (Evans 1-5, Floyd 1-2, Landry 2-4, Green 1-3, Rogers 0-1, Ferguson 0-1, Zuerner 2-8); Metro St. 1-14 (Kendall 0-6, Bethea 1-5, Kelly 0-1, Worthington 0-2). Disqualifications: None.