DAYTON, Ohio — Holy Cross has a losing record, and a long-awaited win in the NCAA tournament.

Robert Champion scored 19 points Wednesday night, including a key 3-pointer in the final minute, to help the Crusaders beat Southern University 59-55 for their first tournament victory in 63 years.

“I think it’s fantastic,” Coach Bill Carmody said. “It’s everything we’re trying to do at Holy Cross. We’re trying to jump-start the program because we realize what an athletic program can do for a school. It’s a great first step.”

Holy Cross (15-19) was an unlikely NCAA participant, earning its automatic bid by winning four road games to take the Patriot League tournament title.

Now, after pulling out a sluggish game in the First Four, the 16th-seeded Crusaders are off to play No. 1 seed Oregon in the West Regional on Friday in Spokane, Washington.

“We’re just enjoying this right now,” Champion said. “We’re going to hop on a plane and go to Spokane. We’re just enjoying it and going for the ride.”

Champion, a junior guard, also made two key free throws with 14 seconds left to seal it in a sloppy game that didn’t get tight until well into the second half. He connected on as many 3s as the entire Southern team, which was 3 of 20 from beyond the arc.

The Crusaders had lost nine consecutive NCAA tournament games since defeating Navy and Wake Forest in 1953 – six years after Holy Cross won the national championship.

Holy Cross led by as many as 12 in the first half thanks to a smothering 1-3-1 zone defense that Southern struggled to solve, but a 9-0 run allowed the Jaguars to cut the lead to 27-22 at halftime.

Southern (22-13) started the second half with 7-0 spurt and eventually tied it with 1:24 left, but Champion hit his big 3 to put Holy Cross ahead to stay.

“A dream come true,” Champion said. “Everybody dreams of making that shot.”

MICHIGAN 67, TULSA 62: Zak Irvin hit a go-ahead 3-pointer and a pair of free throws in the closing minute as Michigan (23-12) beat Tulsa (20-12) in the First Four at Dayton, Ohio.

Irvin’s 3-pointer put the Wolverines up 62-60 with 52 seconds to go, and his two free throws with 10 seconds left sent the 11th-seeded Wolverines into a matchup against Notre Dame in Brooklyn on Friday night.

NOTES

PRESIDENT OBAMA had nice things to say about Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo and guard Denzel Valentine on ESPN, and picked the Spartans to go to the Final Four, but he doesn’t have them winning it all in his annual NCAA tournament bracket.

In fact, he doesn’t have them playing in the final game. He has them losing to North Carolina, who then goes on to lose to No. 1 overall seed Kansas in Houston. Texas A&M was his other Final Four team.