PCAA Roundup : Banks Scores 21 to Lead No. 10 UNLV

Junior guard Freddie Banks scored 21 points to lead 10th-ranked Nevada Las Vegas to a 62-55 victory over San Jose State in a Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. basketball game Thursday night in San Jose.

The Rebels improved their conference record to 9-0 and their overall mark to 20-2. The victory was their 10th in a row. San Jose State dropped to 5-5 and 12-7.

Spartans, who led 31-18 late in the first half, took a 37-30 halftime lead behind sophomore Ricky Berry’s 20 points.

However, UNLV scored the first seven points of the second half to tie the game. Forward Armon Gilliam’s dunk with 4:48 left gave the Rebels the lead for good at 52-51.

San Jose State reserve guard Herb Simon hit a three-point shot with 33 seconds left to pull the Spartans within 58-55. Banks, however, scored four consecutive free throws to give UNLV the seven-point victory.

Berry finished with a game-high 22 points.

UC Irvine 89, Utah State 79--Tod Murphy scored 22 points and Johnny Rogers added 18 in the Anteaters’ victory at Logan, Utah.

Irvine (6-3, 10-8) shot 64% from the field to take a 49-37 halftime lead. The Anteaters ran their advantage to 67-49 with 10:26 left before Utah State began to rally.

A Greg Grant tipin for the Aggies (2-6, 6-11) made it 77-70 with 3:22 left, but Irvine made 10 of 12 from the free throw line to preserve the win.

Troy Carmon scored 14 points and Joe Buchanan 10 for UCI, which shot 67% from the floor.

Grant scored 22 points to move into second place on Utah State’s all-time scoring list with 1,909 points. He passed Brian Jackson (1,900) and is 92 points behind Wayne Estes (2,001).

UC Santa Barbara 56, Cal State Long Beach 54--Conner Henry scored 26 points, including 3 free throws in the final 41 seconds, to lead the Gauchos past the 49ers in Long Beach.

UCSB (4-6, 9-10) led, 30-22, at halftime. But Long Beach (1-8, 5-15) rallied to trim the lead to 53-52 on a three-point field goal by Andre Purry with 1:11 left.

However, Henry made a free throw with 41 seconds left, then sank two more with three seconds remaining for a 56-52 advantage. Anthony Langston’s dunk at the buzzer accounted for the final margin.

New Mexico State 59, Cal State Fullerton 57 (OT)--Guard Kenny Travis hit a short jumper in the key with 16 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Aggies the win over the Titans at Las Cruces, N.M.

New Mexico State, which has won 9 of 10, is 7-1 and 13-4. Fullerton is 3-6 and 10-11.