Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
UTEP
Alexander's 31 Points Lead Men's Hoops Past UTEP
1/15/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 15, 2000
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Courtney Alexander scored 31 points to lead Fresno State to a 91-79 victory in its Western Athletic Conference opener against UTEP Saturday.
Terrance Roberson added 25 points, including nine in the final three minutes, for Fresno State (11-6). Larry Abney scored 19 and had a game-high 15 rebounds for Fresno.
Roy Smallwood and Brandon Wolfram each had 19 points for UTEP (10-5). Williams Smith finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Miners.
Fresno State scored the first six points of the second half to take a 44-38 lead but UTEP stayed close and narrowed the gap to 55-54 with 12:45 left in the game.
Roberson's basket then started a 12-2 Fresno run that included five points from both Alexander and Abney giving Fresno a 67-56 lead with 7:40 left in the game. UTEP's only points came at the free throw line as the Miners made just two of seven attempts in those five minutes and missed all seven field goal attempts.
UTEP, still trailing by 10 with five minutes to go, got as close as three points at 73-70 with 3:35 remaining. But Roberson buried a long 3-pointer and after Smallwood fouled out, Roberson hit a short jumper, upping the lead to eight.
Eggie McRae hit a 3-pointer to cut the margin to five with less than two minutes to play, but the Bulldogs sealed the victory with seven straight points.
UTEP struggled with its shooting as the Miners hit just 39 percent from the field compared to Fresno State's 58 percent effort.
