Junior forward Alec Peters had 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists to lead top-seeded Valparaiso to a 60-44 victory over second-seeded Saint Mary's on Tuesday night in Valparaiso, Ind., that catapults the Crusaders into the NIT Final Four for the first time in school history.

Senior guard Keith Carter scored 11 points and senior center Vashil Fernandez had nine points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots for Valparaiso (29-6), which had a 41-29 rebounding edge while setting a school record for victories in a season.

The Crusaders rolled off 16 straight points during a nearly nine-minute stretch to take control en route to improving to 17-1 at home this season.

Junior forward Dane Pineau led the Gaels (29-6) with 11 points.

St. Mary's scored just 13 second-half points while losing for just the second time in 12 games. The Gaels shot just 33.9 percent from the field, including a paltry 20.7 percent in the second half.

Valparaiso will face second-seeded BYU (26-10) in a semifinal on March 29 in New York's Madison Square Garden.

The Crusaders trailed by seven points before embarking on the 16-0 run that turned a seven-point deficit into a nine-point lead. Saint Mary's missed 10 consecutive shots during the stretch, including its first eight of the second half.

Valparaiso took the lead for good at 32-31 on a 3-pointer by senior guard Darien Walker with 18:47 remaining in the game. Walker followed with a dunk, Peters scored on a layup, Carter hit a jumper and junior forward Shane Hammink culminated the run with a basket to make it 40-31 with 14 minutes left.

Pineau's layup ended the Gaels' drought with 13:37 to play and he scored another basket to bring Saint Mary's within 44-39 with 9:16 remaining.

Peters knocked down back-to-back jumpers to make it 51-41 with 4:04 left and Gonzalez added two free throws and Carter buried a jumper to make it a 14-point margin with 2:47 remaining.

Saint Mary's opened the game strong and used a 10-0 burst to take a seven-point lead before Valparaiso erased it by scoring the next eight points.

The Gaels later took a 31-24 lead on a layup by guard Emmett Naar with 2:46 left in the half. Valparaiso scored the final five points before the break as part of the game-changing 16-0 burst.