Reality show: Terps re-write Hoosiers' script.(Knight Ridder Newspapers)

ATLANTA _ This was no movie script. This was real life, and in real life, the best team, the team stacked with talent and long overdue for a championship, is allowed to beat the scrappy underdog in nameless jerseys and buzz cuts.

Top-seeded Maryland gave the fifth-seeded Indiana Hoosiers a bruising dose of reality and won Monday night's NCAA championship game 64-52, the Terrapins' first national title.

It was a win that should finally exorcise the demons of Len Bias' drug-related death, NCAA probation, and decades of unfulfilled promise.

Like their Hollywood counterparts, the Hoosiers made a valiant effort, erasing a 12-point deficit and briefly taking the lead, 44-42, with 9:54 to go. But Juan Dixon, the Final Four Most Valuable Player, immediately quieted the Hoosier half of the all-red Georgia Dome crowd with a three-pointer. The Terps went on an 11-2 run, and never looked back.

When it was all over, it was sweaty Maryland coach Gary Williams celebrating with a toddler (his grandson) in tow, not Mike Davis. It was Miami Lakes native Steve Blake atop the ladder cutting off a piece of net, not fiery Dane Fife. And it was unheralded Lonny Baxter with 15 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks, not Indiana's NBA prospect, Jerod Jeffries (8 points, 7 rebounds, 4 turnovers).

``This is a great thrill,'' said Williams, a 27-year coaching veteran who took over his alma mater 13 years ago. ``We had to really grind. They played some great defense on us. It took us 25 minutes before we finally got something going. I kept telling them we could go inside, and we finally did it.''

Maryland's Baxter, Chris Wilcox and Byron Mouton outrebounded Indiana's frontcourt 25-16 and outscored them 29-22. Dixon, who was averaging 27 points coming into the game, finished with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting. He also led the Terrapins with five steals, a few of them at critical moments.