PCAA Roundup : UNLV Gets Scare, Beats Santa Barbara

Armon Gilliam scored 5 of his 25 points during an 18-4 run late in the game Thursday night as top-ranked Nevada Las Vegas rallied to beat UC Santa Barbara, 88-74, in a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. game at Santa Barbara.

The Gauchos (6-6, 1-2) had a 64-62 lead with 7:56 left when the Runnin’ Rebels (15-0, 4-0) broke loose. Mark Wade’s layup with 7:30 left gave UNLV a 65-64 lead and the Rebels never trailed again.

Gilliam added nine rebounds and Freddie Banks had 20 points for Las Vegas, hitting 4 of 11 shots from 3-point range. Carrick DeHart and Brian Johnson each scored 15 points for the Gauchos.

UNLV led, 43-39, at halftime, but pulled away to a 61-50 lead. The Gauchos outscored the Rebels, 13-1, to briefly take the lead.

Fresno State 70, Utah State 68--Derrick Barden hit two free throws with no time left to give the Bulldogs a victory over the Aggies at Fresno.

Barden grabbed a rebound and went up for a shot but was fouled by Gilbert Pete just before the buzzer sounded. Utah State’s Reid Newey tied the game, 68-68, by hitting a 3-point shot with 46 seconds left.

Newey and Kevin Nixon both finished with 17 points for Utah State (8-9, 1-4). Mike Mitchell scored 14 points and Barden had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Bulldogs (7-9, 2-3).

Pacific 61, San Jose State 57--Christian Gray scored 23 points, including the game-clinching field goal to lead the Tigers past the Spartans at Stockton.

Dietrich Waters tipped in a shot to pull San Jose (6-8, 2-3) to within 59-57, but Gray took a long pass and drove for a layup with seven seconds left to clinch the victory for Pacific (7-8, 3-3).