San Jose State beats UNLV in OT to open Mountain West play with win for first time

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Omari Moore scored 15 points and Sage Tolbert added five in the overtime as San Jose State knocked off UNLV 75-72 on Wednesday in the Mountain West Conference opener for both teams.

Moore added seven assists for the Spartans (10-4). Tibet Gorener scored 11 points and added five rebounds. Robert Vaihola shot 4 of 5 from the field to finish with nine points to match Tolbert’s nine points. Vaihola added 13 rebounds, a career high.

The win snapped a 10-game losing streak for San Jose State in the series after the Spartans last beat UNLV in February 2017. This also marks the first time San Jose State has opened conference play with a win since joining the Mountain West in 2013.

“It wasn’t like we went out and banged a whole bunch of 3s or anything. It was just a rock-solid effort. We withstood a big run from them in the second half,” coach Tim Miles told reporters after the win. “We’ve lost a couple of those this year. So to be able to fight back against a team the caliber of UNLV and get over the top and win that says a lot about the resolve of our players.”

Elijah Harkless led the Rebels (11-2) in scoring, finishing with 20 points and two steals. Justin Webster added 11 points for UNLV.

Trey Anderson put up nine points in the first half for San Jose State, who led 41-30 at the break after a 19-5 run heading into halftime. San Jose State was outscored by 11 points in the second half and UNLV took a three-point lead late in the game before the teams finished regulation tied 65-65.

Tolbert scored his five overtime points while making his only attempt from the field, a 3-pointer to put the Spartans up by two with 1:27 left. Garrett Anderson came off the bench and iced the game for the Spartans with three late free throws.

NEXT UP

The Spartans visit Colorado State on Saturday while UNLV hosts San Diego State.