PCAA Roundup : Las Vegas’ Streak Ends; Fresno State Wins, 63-52

Scott Barnes and Jos Kuipers each scored 18 points to help Fresno State end Nevada Las Vegas’ 17-game winning streak with a 63-52 victory Saturday at Fresno before a Selland Arena record crowd of 10,151.

Behind Barnes and Kuipers, the Bulldogs (14-6, 9-2) went on a 12-0 run to take an early lead. But the Rebels (18-3, 11-1) fought back, and Richie Adams hit a pair of jumpers to pull UNLV within 24-22 at halftime.

Fresno State opened the second half with an 8-2 run, with Mitch Arnold scoring six points. However, UNLV came back again as Adams, who had 12 points, hit another pair of jumpers and Frank James added a basket to cut the Bulldog margin to 46-42.

But a Kuipers three-point field goal got the Bulldogs going again, and they kept a comfortable lead the rest of the way.

The Bulldogs, ranked second in the nation in scoring defense, held the cold-shooting Rebels far below their 83.4-point average. UNLV, ranked No. 11 by Associated Press and No. 12 by United Press International, hit only 32% of its shots.

“We made some mistakes and had some moments in the game where we struggled,� Fresno State Coach Boyd Grant said, “but we played that energy defense and it paid off for us.�

Fresno State lost to UNLV, 70-58, earlier this season.

“We’ll be glad to get home tonight,� UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian said. “I thought we had some pretty good shots where the ball went half in and then came out. It was one of those days where the ball just wouldn’t go in for us.�

CS Long Beach 72, San Jose State 68--Jeff Eastin sank two free throws with eight seconds left at San Jose to push the 49ers past the Spartans for their first conference victory.

Long Beach (3-17, 1-11) led at halftime, 35-32, but fell behind, 48-41, midway through the second half as San Jose (11-11, 6-17) outscored the 49ers, 16-6.

The 49ers came back to tie, 56-56, with 7:14 left on Darryl Adams’ two free throws, and never trailed again.

Jon Hansen scored 19 points for Long Beach, and Stony Evans had 18 points for San Jose.

Utah State 80, New Mexico State 79--Greg Grant scored 23 points, and Vince Washington added 21 as the Utags held off the Aggies at Las Cruces, N.M.

New Mexico State (6-15, 3-9) trailed most of the game but stayed close to Utah State (13-8, 6-6) on three-point shooting. The Aggies, who got 30 points from Gilbert Wilburn, leads the conference in three-point attempts.

Andre Patterson and Orlando Febres each hit three three-pointers for the Aggies.