March 6, 2004
Final Stats
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Rafael Araujo's lay-in with a half-second remaining gave Brigham Young an 89-88 victory over UNLV Saturday in the final conference game of the season for both schools.
Araujo took a pass from Luiz Lemes and converted the winning basket to finish with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Lemes led the Cougars (20-7, 10-4 Mountain West) with 23 points,
Araujo sat out most of the second half after being whistled for a technical foul - his fourth of the game - for apparently elbowing Rebel guard Jerel Blassingame.
The game featured 13 ties and 18 lead changes. BYU had the biggest lead, 23-14, midway through the first half. UNLV (16-11, 7-7) took a one-point lead, 88-87, with 14.5 seconds left on a jumper from Odartey Blankson.
Kevin Woodberry had 13 and Mike Hall added 12 for BYU.
Blankson had 23 points and 10 rebounds for UNLV, while Blassingame added 17 points and 14 assists. J.K. Edwards added 16 for the Rebels and Romel Beck had 14.
The two schools resume play Thursday at the conference tournament in Denver.
BYU is the No. 2 seed and UNLV will be seeded fourth.
