Bayno sees Rebels routed by San Diego State

Steve Addy

Saturday, Feb. 24, 2001 | 10:35 a.m.

SAN DIEGO -- Things got so bad for UNLV on Saturday night, athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro walked out of the arena with 17:17 to play and the Rebels trailing by 13.

At least he had an excuse. He had to catch a flight.

But Kaspars Kambala left the game 10 minutes later in an entirely different way -- ejected for taking an open-handed swat at San Diego State center Marcelo Correa with 7:17 to go.

Before, during and after those exits, the Rebels never seemed especially interested in playing the game. They suffered an awful 83-66 loss to the Aztecs in front of former coach Bill Bayno and 6,000 others at Cox Arena.

Gasping to the end of a season full of disappointment and embarrassment, this was the cruelest cut of all for the Rebels. Besides Dalron Johnson (17 points) and Lafonte Johnson (nine), they put up a meager effort against what had been the Mountain West's last-place team.

San Diego State led by as much as 23 in the final minute before two 3-pointers by UNLV (15-12, 6-6 MWC).

Not only had the Rebels beaten San Diego State 10 straight times, but the ejection of Kambala put an ugly face on the game. With UNLV trailing 66-52, he lost a rebound to Correa and took an open-handed swing at him, hitting Correa in the back of the head.

Correa walked near Kambala, but they were quickly seperated.

Kambala, who had gotten his first technical for arguing with 13 minutes left, might be subject to discipline by the conference office this week. A suspension for Thursday's game vs. Colorado State is possible.

But Kambala said he was slapping for the ball while falling backward.

"The rebound was coming off, I fell back and I got him right on the head," he said. "It's not like I tried to smack the guy. If I had thrown a punch, somebody would go down."

Coach Max Good said, "To be honest, I didn't see the play. The referee told (assistant) Dave Rice that he took a swing at him. If he did, then they made the right call. I'm sure Kas was frustrated because he felt he was getting banged around in there and not getting calls."

Kambala's swing was one of the Rebels' only signs of life in the second half, if not the game. They fell behind by 13 in the first half, cut the gap to six at halftime, then fell apart under a barrage of Aztecs dunks and 3-pointers in the second half.

SDSU put the game away with a 17-9 run to start the second half, including five dunks and two 3-pointers, for a 53-39 lead. A 3-pointer by Las Vegas native Jim Roban ended the spurt for the Aztecs, part of a career-high 11 points for the Bishop Gorman grad.

The collapse resembled the Rebels' pratfall in Monday's loss at New Mexico, in which they scored only 16 points in the second half.

San Diego State, which made a school-record 13 3-pointers (in 25 attempts), improved to 3-9 in the Mountain West and 13-12 overall. Randy Holcomb and Karlo Kovacic scored 12 points each, Deandre Moore and Al Faux added 11 each and three others scored eight for SDSU.