NEW YORK -- George Washington coach Mike Lonergan can finally replace the basketball net he's been using as a good luck charm the past month and a half.

Lonergan now has a net from Madison Square Garden after George Washington won its first NIT title with a 76-60 win over Valparaiso in the championship game on Thursday.

"I'm not a big motivational guy, but I tell you, I felt that (good luck) net before every game," he said with the Garden net draped over his shoulders. "I told the guys, we win, I'm wearing one of those nets.

"I don't care what we do with the other one, but I will probably send that back to my buddy who gave it to me. When we didn't win the A-10 (tournament) and didn't make the NCAA's we kept the net hanging in our locker room everywhere we went. It was in our locker room tonight."

The Colonials (28-10) stymied the Crusaders with their 1-3-1 zone, outscoring them 44-29 in the second half. Valparaiso (30-7) made only 12 of its 34 shots in the second half.

The zone proved effective in the semifinals Tuesday against San Diego State as well. The Aztecs shot just 29 percent and were 3-of-22 from 3-point distance in the 65-46 loss.

"We had energy," said Lonergan, on why the zone was so good. "(Patricio) Garino and (Yuta) Watanabe always have the energy, but other guys really started caring about defense and believing that defense wins championships."

Forward Kevin Larsen led a balanced scoring legion for the Colonials with 18 points. Patricio Garino added 14 points, Joe McDonald tossed in 13 points and Tyler Cavanaugh, the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, had 12.

Cavanaugh, a transfer from Wake Forest, scored in double figures in every game for the Colonials this season.

Alec Peters topped the Crusaders with 15 points, but only scored two in the second half. He also grabbed 10 rebounds.

A 3-pointer from Larsen, the Colonials' eighth and final one of the game, moved George Washington ahead 57-44 with 5:59 to play and two free throws from McDonald 19 seconds later moved its lead to 59-44 -- its largest cushion to that point.

A layup from Valparaiso's Darien Walker trimmed the Colonials' lead to 34-33 early in the second half, but George Washington responded with a 16-4 burst to move their lead to 50-37 with 11:38 to play.

Cavanaugh tossed in five consecutive points to put the Colonials ahead 32-29 with 31 seconds to play in the half before Valparaiso's Shane Hammink's free throws made it 32-31 at the half.

Valparaiso knotted the game at 24-24, scoring eight straight points in just over a minute. A 3-pointer from Peters, who scored 13 points in the half, concluded the run.

A 10-2 surge gave the Colonials a 21-12 margin advantage. The Crusaders turned the ball over four times in that span.

"I told our guys one game doesn't define a season," said Valparaiso coach Bryce Drew. "We had a sensational run to get here, unfortunately we didn't play as well as we would have liked.

"I thought George Washington probably played one of the better games they have all year."

NOTES: The All-Tournament team consisted of Alec Peters of Valparaiso and Kevin Larsen, Joe McDonald and Patricio Garino of George Washingtion. ... The teams met for the first time. ... Valparaiso's five regular-season losses were by a combined 26 points. ... Valparaiso committed a season-high 20 turnovers in the NIT semifinal win over BYU on Tuesday. ... Crusaders C Vashil Fernandez is the two-time Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year. He leads Division I in blocks per-game. ... George Washington G Yuta Watanabe is only the fourth Division I player from Japan. ... Colonials G Alex Mitola, a graduate-student transfer, graduated from Dartmouth in three years with a degree in economics.