Illinois State 49, Alabama 48

Lou Stefanovic hit an 18-foot jumper with eight seconds left to lift Illinois State to a 49-48 first-round victory over Alabama in the NCAA Midwest Regional basketball tournament last night in Lincoln, Neb.

The basket capped a comeback second half for the 23-7 Redbirds and sidelined Alabama with an 18-12 record.

Rickie Johnson's three-point play with 7:25 to play gave the Redbirds their first lead of the second half, 43-42, and Hank Cornley and Brad Duncan scored to boost Illinois State's lead to 47-42.

Baskets by Alabama's Terry Williams and Bobby Lee Hurt cut the margin to one, 47-46, with 55 to play. Williams hit a jumper from the free throw line with 41 seconds left to play put Alabama back up 48-47.

Stefanovic then hit his 18-footer.

Va. Commonwealth 70, Northeastern 69

Rolando Lamb sank a 20-foot jump shot at the buzzer to lift Virginia Commonwealth to a 70-69 victory over Northeastern in the first round of the East Regional of the NCAA basketball tournament last night at East Rutherford. N J.

With two seconds remaining at the Brendan Byrne Arena. Lamb took at inbounds pass from Michael Brown and sank a shot from just outside the foul line.

Northeastern had a 69-68 lead when Glenn Miller sank the first foul shot in a one-and-one situation with 15 seconds to play. He missed the second shot.

Virginia Commonwealth's Lon Frances then misfired on a 18-foot baseline jumper with three seconds remaining Northeastern freshman Reggie Lewis scored a game-high 31 points.