The Mountain West tournament came to a disappointing end for the UNLV Running Rebels after losing to their in-state rivals, the Nevada Wolf Pack.
The Running Rebels started off strong against a Wolf Pack team that beat them by 26 points just a week ago. The Rebels limited their turnovers and were able to keep the Pack from exploding offensively in route to a 39-31 halftime lead.
The strong defensive effort continued early into the second half, but the Wolf Pack would not be contained. They rallied to put 48 points on the Rebels in the 2nd half and outscore them by the count of 48 to 35.
The comeback puts an end to the Rebels NCAA tournament hopes, and now they await a postseason bid from a smaller tournament.
The UNLV's Lady Rebels were also bounced by Nevada earlier in the week after entering their tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Mountain West.
It's safe to say its been an all-around bad week for the Rebs and all the teams can do is to hope for a bit of revenge when the bitter rivals face each other next season.
But for many attending, the game was still special. March 8th was First Responders day for the Mountain West tournament. Fire, police, paramedics, and nurses were given free tickets to any and all of today's games.
"I'm very appreciative they're doing something like that. I love it," said Brian Varela, an Albuquerque firefighter who was there for the Lobos game.
