UNLV Erases 10-Point Deficit in Last 30 Seconds

Nevada Las Vegas was just as shocked with its comeback as San Diego State was with its collapse.

Odartey Blankson scored 23 points and Michael Umeh had 22 for the Runnin’ Rebels, who won 93-91 in overtime Saturday after making up a 10-point deficit with less than 30 seconds left in regulation.

UNLV’s Ricky Morgan scored the last three points of the game, making a layup with 50.9 seconds left and one free throw with 28.2 seconds left.

“That was as great of an effort as I’ve ever seen,” Umeh said. “We just tried to stay positive the whole time. I just couldn’t believe it. We just wanted to keep scrapping and see what happened. It’s hard to believe.”

The Aztecs, who led by 18 with 12:28 left in regulation, also couldn’t believe it.

“You have to make a play and we didn’t do that,” Coach Steve Fisher said. “Here we are with our heads between our tails, feeling sorry for ourselves.”

The Runnin’ Rebels, who improved to 11-11 overall and 3-6 in the Mountain West Conference, prevented a season sweep by the Aztecs (10-12, 4-5).

UNLV’s Curtis Terry forced overtime with an off-balance three-pointer as the buzzer sounded to tie the score at 82-82.

The Rebels trailed 81-71 with 28.5 seconds left after San Diego State’s Matt Thomas made two free throws. Blankson scored off a rebound with 17.8 seconds left, then was fouled taking a three-point shot and made all three free throws with 13.6 seconds left to pull the Rebels to 81-76.

Trimaine Davis missed two free throws for the Aztecs, then Jerel Blassingame made a three-pointer with 7.6 seconds left to make it 81-79. Davis made one free throw with 5.6 seconds left, giving UNLV enough time for Terry’s tying three-pointer.

“Our guys went out there and made a lot of tough shots,” UNLV Coach Lon Kruger said. “This was a big win for us. I couldn’t ever dream of it. You just kind of hope to get to that point where there is an opportunity to win. It usually doesn’t happen.”