Fresno St. 86, Tulsa 85

<br>FRESNO, Calif. (AP) _ Melvin Ely scored 33 points and had 16 rebounds, both career highs, to lead Fresno St. to an 86-85 Western Athletic Conference victory against Tulsa on Saturday night. <br><br>Chris

Sunday, January 6th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) _ Melvin Ely scored 33 points and had 16 rebounds, both career highs, to lead Fresno St. to an 86-85 Western Athletic Conference victory against Tulsa on Saturday night.

Chris Jefferies converted a 3-point play with 10 seconds left in the game to seal the victory for Fresno (11-5 overall 3-1 WAC). Jefferies finished with 20- points in the game.

Greg Harrington led Tulsa (10-3,1-1) with 25 points.

Ely tied the game at 80-80 with a basket with 2:13 left in the game. Damon Jackson, who scored 14 for the Bulldogs, hit a long jumper to put Fresno in the lead.

Dante Swanson's free throws got Tulsa even with 1:31 left, but Travis DeManby made one free throw to put Fresno ahead for good.

After Jefferies' 3-point play, Antonio Reed hit a long 3-pointer as time expired.

Ely had his third straight career scoring high after returning from an NCAA-mandated six-game suspension. He also had a personal best nine blocks in the game.

Kevin Johnson added 16 for Tulsa and Swanson finished with 13, as did Marqus Ledoux.