By Jed McClellan
In the first overtime game in the history of the Mountain West Conference men''s basketball tournament final, No. 1 seeded San Diego Aztecs defeated the surprising No. 7 seed Wyoming Cowboys, 69-64.
The Aztecs defeated Colorado State 64-52 in the quarterfinals. Marcus Slaughter led his team to the victory with 17 points and 19 rebounds. Conference player of the year Brandon Heath added 16 points.
In the semifinals SDSU knocked off UNLV in a game that wasn''t decided until the final minute of the game. The Aztecs won 63-60. The Aztecs were led once again by Heath with 22 points and Slaughter with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
The Cowboys advanced to the championship game by pulling off a couple of upsets.
In the quarterfinals, the Cowboys upset the No. 2 seed Air Force Falcons, 57-55. Steve Leven led Wyoming with 20 points followed by Brandon Ewing with 12.
In the semifinals the Cowboys were able to record another minor upset, defeating the University of Utah, 60-47. Justin Williams had a triple-double with 10 points, 15 rebounds and 12 blocked shots to help Wyoming get the win. Brad Jones chipped in with 20 points.
Slaughter was named the tournament MVP and was joined on the MWC All-Tournament team by teammate Heath. Wyoming teammates Ewing and Williams were also named to the team, as well as Luke Nevill of Utah.