Jacobson’s Late Basket Lifts Utah Over UNLV

Nick Jacobson made a three-point basket with 1.8 seconds left at Denver, giving third-seeded Utah a 73-70 victory over Nevada Las Vegas for the Mountain West Conference tournament title Saturday night and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

UNLV’s Odartey Blankson made a three-point basket with 21 seconds left to tie the score at 70-70, but Jacobson then made the game-winning shot from the left wing.

Jacobson finished with 22 points to lead Utah (24-8). Blankson had 23 points for fourth-seeded UNLV (18-12).

AMERICA EAST -- Taylor Coppenrath, sidelined since Feb. 15 with a broken wrist, returned to score 43 points and lead Vermont to a 72-53 victory over Maine in the final at Burlington, Vt. The Catamounts gained their second NCAA tournament berth in as many years. Coppenrath scored 28 points in the first half when the Catamounts (22-8) took a 40-23 lead. Mark Flavin, the leading scorer at 14.7 points a game for Maine (20-9), suffered a leg injury four minutes into the game and didn’t return.

MID-AMERICAN -- Top-seeded Western Michigan (26-4) advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1998 with a 77-66 victory over second-seeded Kent State (22-8) in the final at Cleveland.

MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC -- Florida A&M; (14-16) earned a berth in the NCAA tournament with a 58-51 victory over Coppin State (18-14) in the final at Richmond, Va. The Rattlers will be making their second appearance in the NCAA tournament as MEAC tournament champion with a losing record, making it with a 12-18 mark in 1999.

SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC -- Alabama State (16-14) won its second conference tournament in four years, defeating Alabama A&M;, 63-58, at Birmingham, Ala.

WESTERN ATHLETIC -- Top-seeded Nevada (23-8) earned its first trip to the NCAA tournament since 1985 with a 66-60 victory over second-seeded Texas El Paso (24-7) in the final at Fresno.