PCAA Roundup : Nevada Las Vegas Clinches Fourth Straight Title

Junior guard Freddie Banks scored 25 points to lead 11th-ranked Nevada Las Vegas to a 92-75 Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. title-clinching victory over New Mexico State Thursday night at Las Vegas.

The championship is the Rebels’ fourth straight. UNLV has a 14-1 conference record and a 26-3 overall mark. New Mexico State fell to 9-6 and 15-9.

The Rebels held the Aggies scoreless for 5 1/2 minutes early in the game to turn an 11-11 tie into a 24-11 lead with 6 1/2 minutes left in the half.

UNLV was on top 43-21 at halftime and the Aggies weren’t able to mount a serious threat in the final 20 minutes. The Rebels led by as many as 28 points late in the game.

Eldridge Hudson and Anthony Jones added 15 and 14 points for the Rebels. John Flowers had eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds for UNLV, which outrebounded the Aggies, 47-32.

Gilbert Wilburn led New Mexico State with 22 points. Virgil Harris added 11 points.

Utah State 78, Fresno State 66--Sophomore Jeff Anderson scored 13 of his 20 points in the second half and the Aggies scored their final 17 points on 20 shots from the free-throw line, as they defeated the Bulldogs at Logan, Utah.

Utah State hit only seven field goals in the second half, two of them from three-point range, but made 20 of 28 free throws in the half.

Fresno State never led, but was tied for the final time, 51-51, with 9:24 left on two Marvin Carter free throws. Anderson then broke the tie with a 12-foot jumper and went on to score 11 of his points in the final nine minutes.

The Bulldogs trailed by six with 56 seconds left before Utah State hit eight straight free throws.

Bill Floyd had 15 points, Kevin Nixon 13 and Greg Grant 11 for Utah State (6-9 in the PCAA, 10-14 overall).

Carter had 20 points, Mike Mitchell 16 and Jos Kuipers 11 for Fresno State (8-8, 15-12).