Colorado State reaches Mountain West semis with 71-59 win

Mar 13, 2015, 01:53 am

LAS VEGAS -- Daniel Bejarano scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds and Colorado State survived the loss of leading scorer J.J. Avila in the first half to beat Fresno State 71-59 on Thursday night in the Mountain West Conference tournament.

Friday, the third-seeded Rams (27-5), who set a school record with their 27th victory, will play No. 2 seed San Diego State, which defeated No. 7 seed UNLV 67-64 earlier Thursday.

Avila left the game with an ankle sprain with 6:45 left in the first half and Colorado State leading by three. The Rams responded by finishing the half on a 23-8 run that included five consecutive 3-pointers for a 40-22 lead.

Sixth-seeded Fresno State opened the second half with a 19-7 run to close within six, 47-41. The Bulldogs (15-17) wouldn't get closer as the Rams used an 11-3 run to go back up by 14.

Cezar Guerrero led Fresno State with 16 points before fouling out.

The Bulldogs' leading scorer, Marvelle Harris, was held to four points on 1-of-10 shooting.