LAS VEGAS, Nev.—CSU Bakersfield nearly overcame a pair of long scoring droughts in an upset bid of New Mexico State, but the No. 1-seeded Aggies defeated the fourth seeded Roadrunners 57-53 in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament Friday night at the Orleans Arena.

A 7-for-13 shooting start got the Roadrunners off to a 16-10 lead eight minutes into the game. The 'Runners would go cold, making only two of their next 13 field goal attempts. The Aggies outscored CSU Bakersfield 18-7 for the remaining portion of the first half and would take a 28-23 advantage into halftime.

The Roadrunners made five of their first seven shots of the second half to close to within two, 39-37 with 13:43 to go. CSUB went cold again as NM State scored the next eight, pushing the lead to double digits for the first time a little over three minutes later. CSUB went scoreless for 5:20 before Kevin Mays (Jr., Queens, N.Y., Odessa College) hit a jumper from the free throw line.

Coming out of the third media timeout of the closing frame, the Roadrunners raced to a 11-0 spurt that closed it 52-50 after a Kregg Jones (R-Sr., St. George Barbados, Army-Navy Academy) dunk. NMSU called a 30-second timeout and got to the free throw line when Remi Barry was fouled and made both attempts. The teams exchanged defensive stops when Aly Ahmed (Jr., Alexandria, Egypt, Midland College) made a short jumper with 73 seconds remaining.

A Nephawe put back of a Daniel Mullings miss the next time down returned the lead to four for NMSU. Jaylin Airington (R-So., East Chicago, Ind., Ventura College) nearly cut it to one but his three-point attempt went in and out of the cylinder. Nephawe got the rebound and passed to Mullings who was fouled. He connected on both with 15 seconds to go. Ahmed's free throw with sixth tenths on the clock was the final point of the game.

Ahmed scored 16 of his game high 22 points in the second half. Mays had 10. Nephawe led the Aggies with a double-double of 19 points and 14 rebounds. Mullings scored 14 while Pascal Siakam had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

CSUB finishes the season with a 14-19 record. The Aggies won their 12th in a row to improve to 22-10. NM State will play either Seattle U or Missouri-Kansas City in the Saturday finals. Tip is set for 8 p.m. and can be seen at 8 p.m. on ESPN U.

~www.GoRunners.com~