Tournaments: Fresno State wins Mountain West, NCAA Tournament spot

Marvelle Harris scored 18 points to lead Fresno State to a 68-63 victory over San Diego State to win the Mountain West title in Las Vegas and earn its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2001.

San Diego State (25-9) had a chance to tie the game with 28 seconds left, but Dakarai Allen missed the second of two free throws, and Julien Lewis drained four straight foul shots for the Bulldogs (25-9) to put the game out of reach.

Karachi Edo scored nine points, while Lewis had eight points and seven rebounds for the Bulldogs (25-9).

No. 2-seed Fresno State beat the top-seeded Aztecs for the second time in three meetings this season.

San Diego State, meanwhile, will likely settle for the league’s automatic bid to the NIT by virtue of winning the regular-season title.

The Aztecs were led by Malik Pope, who had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and Winston Shepard, who added 15.

Cal State Bakersfield 57, New Mexico State 54: Dedrick Basile’s 3-pointer with two-tenths of a second remaining lifted the Roadrunners (24-8) to a victory over the No. 1 seed Aggies (23-10), State in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament title game in Las Vegas, winning Cal State Bakersfield to its first NCAA Tournament berth.

Basile led third-seeded Cal State Bakersfield with 18 points, and Damiyne Durham added 15. Cal State Bakersfield had never beaten New Mexico State, losing their first 11 meetings, including twice during the regular season.

Pascal Siakam and Braxton Huggins each had 11 points for the Aggies, and Ian Baker added 10.

Southern University 54, Jackson State 53: Adrian Rodgers made a jump shot with 17 seconds left to lift the Jaguars (22-12) to a victory over the Tigers (19-15) in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game in Houston, clinching Southern University’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2013.

Trelun Banks scored 19 points for Southern, which is making its ninth trip to the NCAA tourney.

In a wild back-and-forth game, Raeford Worsham put Jackson State on top with a layup with 33 seconds left before the shot by Rodgers put Southern ahead – to stay.

The Tigers had a chance to win it, but missed two shots in the final seconds.

Worsham led Jackson State with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Stony Brook 80, Vermont 74: Jameel Warney scored 43 points and the Seawolves (26-6) reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time by coming from behind to win the America East Tournament championship against the Catamounts (21-13) in Stony Brook, New York.

Top-seeded Stony Brook had reached this point four times in the last five seasons, including the last two years, and lost each time – each defeat seemingly more excruciating than the last. Last year, a 3-pointer with just seconds left by Albany kept the Seawolves out of the NCAAs.

The Seawolves were down 15 in the second half to the Catamounts, but Warney’s unstoppable inside game was too much for Vermont.

Carson Puriefoy contributed 23 points and some big free throws down the stretch for Stony Brook.

Trae Bell-Haynes led Vermont with 17 points.

Middle Tennessee 55, Old Dominion 53: Reggie Upshaw made two free throws with 2.9 seconds left to lift the Blue Raiders (24-9) to a victory over the Monarchs (22-13) at Birmingham, Alabama, in the Conference USA tournament.

Middle Tennessee earned its first NCAA Tournament berth since 2013 in a defensive struggle that was markedly different from their 99-90 semifinal shootout with Marshall.

Aaron Bacote dribbled once and launched a 3-pointer from before midcourt for Old Dominion, and Brandan Stith’s tip-in attempt didn’t fall.

That set off a celebration that included Upshaw standing on the scorer’s table in front of Middle Tennessee fans at Legacy Arena.

Giddy Potts led Middle Tennessee with 14 points and made 4 of 5 3-pointers before fouling out. Darnell Harris scored 10 points and Upshaw had nine, including the two biggest.

Trey Freeman led Old Dominion with 17 points, but was only 7-of-23 shooting. Aaron Bacote scored 15 points.

Buffalo 64, Akron 61: Blake Hamilton made a 3-pointer with 2 seconds left as the Bulls (20-14) defended its Mid-American Conference title – and pulled off a rare double for the school – with a win over the Zips (26-8) in the title game in Cleveland.

Hamilton’s shot from the right wing sent third-seeded Buffalo back to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. This was supposed to be a rebuilding season after Buffalo lost its coach and two of its top players. But the Bulls are stampeding into the NCAAs again and so are Buffalo’s women, who beat Central Michigan in overtime for their first MAC championship earlier.

Akron had one last chance, but a long inbounds pass was picked off by Hamilton.

Freshman CJ Massinburg scored 18 for Buffalo and Hamilton had 14 and 11 rebounds.

Antino Jackson had 14 points for Akron.

Hampton 81, South Carolina State 69: Reginald Johnson Jr. had 21 points and eight assists and the top-seeded Pirates (20-10) beat the Bulldogs (19-14) in Nofolk, Virginia, to win its second consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament.

Brian Darden scored 22 points, Jervon Pressley 14 and Quinton Chievous 13 for Hampton, which outscored South Carolina State 14-2 over the final four minutes to win the MEAC championship for the sixth time.

Eric Eaves scored 25 to lead South Carolina State, which was seeking its first NCAA tournament berth since 2003.

The Bulldogs won their only meeting with Hampton during the regular season, 67-62 at Hampton on Jan. 25, but had no answer late in the game when Johnson continually drove into the lane, at times scoring himself or feeding Pressley and Chievous underneath for easy baskets.

Chievous put the Pirates ahead to stay with 3:45 to play, and Johnson followed with a pair of free throws. Gabriel McCray got the Bulldogs’ only basket of the final four minutes with 2:32 to play, but Johnson scored on a drive, fed Pressley for a basket and the partisan crowd at Norfolk’s Scope Arena began celebrating.

Stephen F. Austin 82, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 60: Thomas Walkup had 19 points and six rebounds to lead the Lumberjacks (27-5) to its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance with an 82-60 win over the Islanders (25-7) – its 20th consecutive victory – in the Southland Conference Tournament championship in Katy, Texas.

Clide Geffrard had 18 points and eight rebounds for Stephen F. Austin, which shot 47 percent from the floor. Ty Charles added 12 points.

Walkup earned the conference tournament MVP for the third straight year.

Stephen F. Austin has the longest active win streak in the NCAAs. The Lumberjacks have won 26 straight against conference opponents over the last two years, also the NCAA’s longest active streak. Stephen F. Austin, the only NCAA team to go an undefeated 18-0 in conference play this season, advanced to the championship game with a 104-68 win over Houston Baptist Friday night.

Joe Kilgore had 14 points for the Islanders (25-7).

Hawaii 64, Long Beach State 60: Aaron Valdes scored 14 points and five rebounds to lift the Rainbow Warriors (27-5) over the 49ers (20-14) for the Western Athletic Conference title in Anaheim, California. Long Beach will wait to see if it earns a bid to one of the other postseason tournaments.