Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
25-9
San Diego State
25-9
Fresno State wins Mountain West, NCAA Tournament spot
3/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 12, 2016
Box Score | Notes | Photo gallery courtesy of Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos 
| Photo Gallery
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Marvelle Harris scored 18 points to lead Fresno State to a 68-63 victory over San Diego State to win the Mountain West Tournament title and earn its first NCAA berth since 2001.
San Diego State had a chance to tie the game with 28 seconds left, but Dakarai Allen missed the second of two free throws, and Bulldogs guard Julien Lewis drained four straight foul shots to put the game out of reach.
Karachi Edo scored nine points, while Lewis had eight points and seven rebounds for the Bulldogs, who enter the NCAA Tournament on a nine-game winning streak.
No. 2-seed Fresno State (25-9) beat the top-seeded Aztecs for the second time in three meetings this season.
San Diego State (25-9) was led by Malik Pope, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Winston Shepard, who added 15.
Fresno State took advantage of 15 Aztecs turnovers, scoring 18 points off of them, while its bench outscored San Diego State's, 18-13.
The Bulldogs allowed San Diego State to pull ahead 20-16, but from there, Cezar Guerrero's three free throws and fadeaway jumper ignited a 12-8 run that allowed Fresno State to get back in the game, tying it at 28.
San Diego State responded by scoring the next six points, but the Bulldogs then went on an 11-2 run to close the half and took a 39-36 lead into the break after Harris buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Harris was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, and was joined on the all-tournament team by Pope, Shepard, Edo, San Diego State's Trey Kell and Nevada's Cameron Oliver.
