Men’s basketball roundup: Lobos outlast Aztecs

Cameron Bairstow scored 17 points to lead No. 20 New Mexico to a 64-58 victory over No. 8 San Diego State in the Mountain West Conference championship game Saturday in Las Vegas, giving the Lobos (27-6) the automatic berth into the NCAA tournament.

Trailing by one with a little more than one minute left in the game, Bairstow, who was selected the tournament MVP, scored five of the Lobos’ last eight points to help New Mexico State win its third consecutive tournament title.

Xavier Thames scored 15 points to lead the Aztecs (29-4).

America East

DJ Evans scored 16 points as Albany (18-14) held on for a 69-60 win over Stony Brook (23-10) in the America East championship in Stony Brook, N.Y.

Peter Hooley added 15 for the Great Danes, including a 3-pointer with 1:04 remaining to put his team up 61-56.

AAC

Montrezl Harrell had 22 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks as fifth-ranked Louisville (29-5) earned a 71-61 win over No. 21 Connecticut (26-8) in Memphis, Tenn., for the inaugural American Athletic Conference tournament title.

Russ Smith had 19 points and five steals for Cardinals.

Big West

Freshman guard Ridge Shipley hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 13.7 seconds left and seventh-seeded Cal Poly (13-19) completed its improbable march to the school’s first conference championship, holding on to a 61-59 win over Cal State Northridge (17-18) in Anaheim, Calif., to reach the NCAA tourney for the first time in school history.

Conference USA

James Woodard scored 27 points to lead Tulsa (21-12) to a spot in the NCAA tournament with a 69-60 victory against Louisiana Tech (27-7) in the Conference USA tournament final in El Paso, Texas.

The Bulldogs missed a chance to reach the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991.

MAC

David Brown scored 32 points, Tucker Haymond added 21 and Western Michigan (23-9) earned its first trip to the NCAA tournament in 10 years with a 98-77 win over Toledo (27-6) in the Mid-American Conference championship in Cleveland.

MEAC

Jeremy Ingram scored 29 points and N.C. Central (28-5) used an 8-1 run to gain some separation before holding on to a 71-62 win over Morgan State (15-16) in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship in Norfolk, Va.

Southland

Thomas Walkup had 19 points as Stephen F. Austin (31-2) beat Sam Houston State 68-49 in Katy, Texas, to earn its first trip to the NCAA tournament since 2009.

Terrance Motley had nine points for the Bearkats (23-10), who shot 39 percent while struggling in the second half.

SWAC

Aaric Murray had 27 points and 10 boards to lead Texas Southern (19-14) to a 78-73 win over Prairie View A&M (11-23) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game in Houston and into the NCAA tournament for first time since 2003.