PCAA Roundup : New Mexico St. Too Much for Long Beach in 2nd Half

New Mexico State hit Cal State Long Beach with a barrage of second-half layups and dunks and defeated the 49ers, 85-79, Saturday night at the Long Beach Arena.

Guard Gilbert Wilburn--with the layups--and center Andre Patterson--with the dunks--combined for 35 points in the second half.

The Aggies, who held only a 36-35 halftime lead, outscored the 49ers, 20-6, early in the second half to take a commanding 62-45 lead. Wilburn scored 13 points during a six-minute span to open the half.

Wilburn, a Carson native who transferred to New Mexico State from Wichita State, finished with 29 points and six assists. He has averaged 23 points in the six games he has played since becoming eligible.

Patterson finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

The victory raised New Mexico State’s record to 5-7 overall and 2-1 in the Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. Long Beach fell to 2-9 and 0-3.

Las Vegas 70, Fresno State 58--Frank James scored 18 points and Richie Adams added 13 to lead the University of Nevada-Las Vegas to victory over Fresno State at Las Vegas.

The Rebels, 10-2, are 4-0 in league play. Fresno State fell to 6-5 and 3-4 in league play.

Mitch Arnold’s 19 points and Josh Kuipers’ 18 paced the Bulldogs.

San Jose State 74, UCSB 55--Ward Farris scored 17 points to pace the San Jose State to a victory over the Santa Barbara at Santa Barbara.

The Spartans, now 8-6 overall and 3-2 in the PCAA, established early command, shooting out to a 14-2 lead in the opening minutes of the contest. The Gauchos fell to 6-7 overall and 2-2 in the conference.