LAS VEGAS -- New Mexico won the Mountain West Conference tournament the last two seasons, and the Lobos werent prepared to let the title go. Trailing by one with a little more than a minute left, Cameron Bairstow scored five of the Lobos last eight points to help 20th-ranked New Mexico win its third consecutive tournament title, with a 64-58 victory over No. 8 San Diego State in Saturdays championship game. Bairstow finished with 17 points, and the victory gives the Lobos the automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The 6-foot-9 senior forward was named tournament MVP after averaging 20.3 points per game and 9.0 rebounds per game. "In the regular season San Diego State was the best team," Bairstow said. "I think in this tournament, we were the best team. (The MVP trophy) could have gone to a number of players, the guys sitting next to me. It wasnt about proving a point. You just got to understand its all about team success. Thats what it is. All the accolades that come off that are a bonus. At the end of the day its all based on team success." The No. 2 seed in the Mountain West tournament is now 6-0 all-time when playing the No. 1 seed. "I got terrific kids, a terrific team thats believed in me, taking over a team that won back to back regular season and tournament championships," said first-year New Mexico coach Craig Neal. "This is our third one. Its very special to me." It didnt come easy against the conferences No. 1 defence, as New Mexico (27-6) had its five-point halftime lead disappear when the Aztecs opened the second half on an 8-0 run, to take a 30-27 lead. Trailing 56-49 with 2:34 left in the game, the Aztecs went on an 8-0 run to go up one with 1:21 remaining. The run was culminated when Winston Shepard stole an inbounds pass, dished to Dwayne Polee II for a slam dunk. Polee was fouled and converted the three-point play. With momentum seemingly shifted, Bairstow took over, driving on Josh Adams for a lay-in while drawing the foul. Bairstow converted the three-point play to give the Lobos the lead again. Polees layup attempt at the other end didnt fall, Bairstow rebounded with 51 seconds left and Kendall Williams made a 3-pointer 30 seconds later to seal the win. Williams added 16 points for the Lobos and moved up to No. 5 all-time on New Mexicos career scoring list with 1,794 points, while Greenwood had 12. "I think the timing of it was more fortunate for us this time," Williams said. "Last game they timed it just right and we didnt have an answer for it. This time they punched us in the mouth to start (the second half), and we were able to respond throughout the half. That was the big difference." After shooting 34.8 per cent (8 of 23) from the field in the first half, the Lobos were 10 of 21 from the floor in the second half, including 4 of 9 from long-range. And despite having one of the more formidable frontcourts in the nation, led by Bairstow, San Diego State outscored the Lobos in the paint, 24-18. The Aztecs also outscored New Mexico off turnovers, 21-8, and with bench points, 16-4. In a game that featured 10 ties and 12 lead changes, New Mexicos seven point advantage at the 2:34 mark was the largest lead of the game. "This was a tremendously hard fought game between two very good basketball teams," San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said. "Were disappointed that we didnt get the opportunity to cut the nets down. But were proud of what weve done and how weve done it. "We competed from wire to wire, and we just didnt quite have enough to finish. But if we continue to play that way, well have a chance to be playing after the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. Thats our goal now." San Diego State (29-4) got a team-high 15 points from Xavier Thames, the leagues regular-season player of the year. Thames also had three assists while once again committing just one turnover. For the tournament, Thames had 16 assists versus a mere three turnovers. Joining Bairstow, Williams, Polee, and Thames on the 2014 all-tournament team was New Mexicos Alex Kirk. Cheap Bobby Doerr Jersey . 5 Trade Deadline is drawing closer and teams will be deciding on whether to buy or sell while figuring out which players can make the biggest difference and hold the greatest value. Cheap Babe Ruth Jersey . He was signed to help with depth to the receiving corps because of the loss of Shamawd Chambers to the 6-game injured list. http://www.cheapredsoxjerseys.com/ .com) - Longtime Senators star Daniel Alfredsson returned to Ottawa on Thursday to officially announce his retirement. Cheap Tony Conigliaro Jersey . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. 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If Gustafsson wins, Jones is looking at a rematch with the guy who almost took his belt in 2013 and proved to be his most worthy challenger to date. If Johnson wins, Jones gets an unfamiliar powerhouse who is on a tear as part of a career resurgence at 205 pounds. -- DONALD CERRONE UFC 182 Result: Defeated Myles Jury via unanimous decision Whats next?: The campaign trail. Cerrone is scorching right now with six straight wins and a striking attack that looks unstoppable. His biggest obstacle is the amount of fighters waiting in front of him to get the attention of lightweight champion Anthony Pettis. Rafael Dos Anjos is next up for a title shot in March and former No. 1 contender Gilbert Melendez fell short in his title bout in December, which means Cerrones quest for gold will likely have to go through the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov (22-0), who is currently healing from a torn meniscus in his right knee and is eyeing a February return. ** UPDATE ** Since this article was posted, Cerrone has agreed to replace the injured Eddie Alvarez in a bout with Benson Henderson at UFC Fight Night: McGregor vs. Siver on Jan. 18. -- BRAD TAVARES UFC 182 Result: Defeated Nate Marquardt via unanimous decision Whats next?: Trial by fire Tavaares rise up the middleweight ranks hit a wall with consecutive losses to Yoel Romero and Tim Boetsch in 2014, but a convincing win over Marquardt will at least stop the bleeding for now.ddddddddddddAn interesting test would be a bout with CB Dollaway, who is also looking to stop some bleeding of his own after a disappointing TKO loss to Lyoto Machida in his first ever main event in December. Tavares looks talented enough for the upper half of the division and a fight against someone in a similar position could go a long way in proving his worth. -- KYOJI HORIGUCHI UFC 182 Result: Defeated Louis Gaudinot via unanimous decision Whats next?: Another rung Horiguchi has dominated his first four opponents in the UFC and now its time for a real challenge on the ladder up the flyweight division. Without taking away from his UFC victories, the truth is he has yet to face any championship-calibre opponents. With Zach Makovsky and Timothy Elliott set to tangle in mid-February, Horiguchi would slot in well against former title contender Chris Cariaso. Cariaso is an experienced and talented fighter that would be a logical next step for Horiguchi to try and vault himself into the upper echelon at 125 pounds. -- HECTOR LOMBARD UFC 182 Result: Defeated Josh Burkman via unanimous decision Whats next? The big boys After his fourth win in five UFC fights, its time to see if Lombard belongs in the title conversation. The former Bellator champion thinks Rory MacDonald makes more sense for his next fight and he would be right based on the circumstances. Since MacDonald has been forced to wait for the Robbie Lawler-Johny Hendricks trilogy to end before he fights for the belt, and the next four ranked fighters are booked, it would make a lot of sense to see if Lombard can compete with a level of talent he has yet to face in the UFC. ' ' '