Biscuits and gravy are great. But they're nothing compared to a shot at the national championship.

The Amherst College Lord Jeffs made it to the Division III men's basketball final four in Salem in 2004 and again in 2006, and Dan Wheeler, a senior from Minnesota, admitted he "fell in love with the Virginia breakfasts."

"Especially biscuits and gravy," Wheeler said. "I kind of stuffed my face."

As much as he liked the biscuits, though, Wheeler wasn't as happy with the outcomes of the games.

The Jeffs lost in the semifinals each time. This year, the Jeffs' third trip in four years, Wheeler made a solemn vow to teammate Tim McLaughlin to eschew biscuits for the duration of the tournament, and it worked.

The Jeffs survived a second-half uprising to beat Wooster 67-60 in the semifinals on Friday at Salem Civic Center, earning themselves the school's first ever trip to the championship game.

Amherst (29-2) plays Virginia Wesleyan at 5 p.m. today.

Wooster (29-4) plays Washington in the consolation game today at 2:30 p.m.

"We played our hearts out," said Wooster senior Tim Vandervaart. "We played with passion, we fought like hell to come back.

"We're crushed."

Just about everything worked for the Jeffs at the start, something coach David Hixon attributed more to experience than to biscuit shunning.

The Jeffs came out of the locker room -- the same one they'd been assigned the past two trips which turned out not to be such bad luck after all -- smoking, especially from long range.

Five and a half minutes into the game, they'd already hit four 3-pointers and were up 18-4.

Even after a scoreless stretch of nearly 5¹₂ minutes, the Jeff's lead didn't drop below eight the rest of the half.

At the same time the Jeffs were hitting 50 percent from the floor, and nearly as well (7-for-15) from 3-point range, they were holding Wooster's top scorer James Cooper to just two points and double-digits scorer Brandon Johnson scoreless.

Vandervaart, with 12 points, and Tom Port, with seven, kept the Scots from getting blown out in the first half, but still they trailed 39-25 at the break.

The Scots turned the tables in the second half, opening up on a 21-4 run, with Vandervaart leading the way with eight points in the 7¹₂-minute stretch. Cooper capped it with a 3-pointer that put Wooster ahead, 46-43, for the first time.

McLaughlin and Wheeler went on a 10-0 run to restore the Amherst lead, but the Scots wouldn't give up. Cooper again put Wooster ahead by three with a 3-pointer with 4:49 to play.

"We've been in similar situations where we've had a lead and we've given it back," Hixon said. "This was a great gut check for us."

Wooster was still up by three with less than 3 minutes to play, but 6-foot-10 center Kevin Hopkins, who'd scored two points to that point, scored seven points in 2 minutes.

He drove in for a layup and hit his free throw to tie the score. Vandervaart missed a hook shot at the other end -- his first miss of the day -- and Brian Baskauskas grabbed the defensive rebound.

Hopkins hit another layup and a pair of free throws to put the Jeffs up 63-60 with 39 seconds left.

Wooster was forced to foul, and Andrew Olson, the New England Small College Athletic Conference Player of the Year, hit all four of his free throws to put a little gravy on the win.

WOOSTER (29-4)

Johnson 1-5 3-5 5, Cooper 4-10 1-2 12, Van Horn 2-4 1-1 6, Port 3-9 6-7 13, Will 1-1 0-0 2, Bidwell 0-2 0-0 0, Fulk 1-4 0-0 2, Vandervaart 9-10 2-2 20. Totals 21-45 13-17 60.

AMHERST (29-2)

Olson 4-11 6-6 15, McLaughlin 6-12 0-1 16, Baskauskas 2-4 3-4 9, O'Shea 1-2 2-2 4, Wheeler 5-12 0-4 11, Salerno 0-0 0-0 0, Walters 1-2 0-0 3, Hopkins 3-8 3-3 9, Jones 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-53 14-20 67.

3-point goals: Wooster 5-19 (Johnson 0-2, Cooper 3-7, Van Horn 1-1, Port 1-6), Bidwell 0-1, Fulk 0-2); Amherst 9-23 (Olson 1-6, McLaughlin 4-7, Baskauskas 2-3, Wheeler 1-6, Walters 1-1). Rebounds: Wooster 30 (Johnson 7, Cooper 3, Van Horn 2, Port 4, Will 1, Bidwell 3, Fulk 3, Vandervaart 4, team 3); Amherst 32 (Olson 6, McLaughlin 8, Baskauskas 4, O'Shea 4, Wheeler 3, Salerno 3, Walters 1, Hopkins 1, Jones 1, team 1). Assists: Wooster 12 (Van Horn 3), Amherst 14 (Olson 9). Steals: Wooster 5 (Vandervaart 2), Amherst 7 (Olson 3). Turnovers: Wooster 15 (Port 5), Amherst 12 (Olson 5). Halftime: Amherst 39-25.