Callum McRae
In a match up involving three Kiwis Matt Freeman (8 points) and UC Santa Barbara got the better of UC Riverside 65-60. For Riverside Callum McRae filled the stats line with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists plus 2 blocks and fellow sophomore Angus McWilliam had 5 points and 4 rebounds.
McRae was at it again two days later claiming his fourth double-double of the season (12 points and 10 rebounds) as Riverside won a low scoring affair against Hawaii 49-43.
Yanni Wetzell and San Diego State, the regular season champions, enter the Mountain West Conference Tournament later this week as red hot favourites boasting an overall record of 28-1 and a conference win-loss of 17-1. Their 28th win of the season was at Nevada (83-76) with Yanni Wetzell adding 6 rebounds, a steal and a block to 8 points.
Max de Geest converted all three of his three-point attempts as Long Beach State dropped to 5-8 in the Big West Conference after falling 73-62 against CSUN. The freshman shooting guard finished with 11 points and a couple of steals.
Unlucky for some but not Dan Fotu who collected 13 points (6/7FG) as St Mary’s accounted for Santa Clara 78-72. He also added 4 rebounds.
St Mary’s finished in third place (11-5) in the West Coast Conference regular season after going down 86-76 to top seeded Gonzaga – 8 points for Fotu in that one.
11 points and 3 rebounds were the order of the day for Taki Fahrensohn but the former Waitakere and Auckland Grammar wing couldn’t prevent Portland going down 81-65 at San Francisco.
Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa collected 15 points, 4 rebounds and 2 steals as Sacramento State fell 79-71 against Montana. It was the last home game for Le’afa who has scored over 900 points for the Hornets in 106 appearances.
Jackson Stent came up with a career high 5 steals in his final home game for Houston Baptist. He capped his senior night performance with 5 points, 3 rebounds and a block.
LACEY LOWDOWN 