PCAA Roundup : Rebels Now 27-3 and 15-1 After Win Over Fresno St.

Anthony Jones scored 17 points Saturday to lead 11th-ranked Nevada Las Vegas to a 72-56 Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. victory over Fresno State at Las Vegas.

The Rebels (27-3 overall and 15-1 in the PCAA), who clinched their fourth straight conference championship Thursday, broke open the game midway through the first half. With Fresno State leading, 15-12, UNLV went on a 17-6 spurt to take a 29-21 halftime lead.

Jones scored 10 points and Armon Gilliam 8 in the first half.

Fresno State (15-13 and 8-9) stayed close in the early going as Brian Salone scored 11 of his team’s 21-first half points. He was held to just two points in the second half.

Marvin Carter took over the scoring for the Bulldogs in the second half, getting 16 of his game-high 18 points.

Fred Banks and Gilliam each scored 14 points for the Rebels.

UNLV was outrebounded by a 37-22 margin, but the Rebels used strong outside shooting and a defense that swiped the ball 12 times to pull out the win.

“I think I’d rather have poor rebounding and win,” UNLV Coach Jerry Tarkanian. “We’ve got to improve our rebounding, but when we rebound well, we lose.”

Utah State 78, Pacific 77--Utah State forward Greg Grant’s free throw with 11 seconds left clinched the Aggies’ victory at Logan, Utah, and tied him for the all-time PCAA career scoring lead.

Grant missed the back half of his one-and-one opportunity to finish with 12 points for the night. He has 2,065 career points and is tied with with Ron Cornelius, who played for Pacific in 1977-81.

Rich Anema made a three-point shot for Pacific with three seconds left to cut the final margin to one point.

After falling behind, 30-20, in the first half, the Tigers came back to take a 40-37 lead at halftime. Pacific’s largest lead came with 15:28 remaining when Anema hit an 18-foot jumper to make it 51-44.

Anema led all scorers with 22 points.

Utah State regained the lead, 54-53, with 11:48 left, and the teams exchanged leads until the Aggies went ahead for good, 58-57, with 9:43 left.

Drew Rogers added 18 points for Pacific (13-13 overall and 6-9 in the PCAA). Utah State (11-14, 7-9) was led by Nathan Grant with 13 points.