Men golfers fall short of NCAA berth

The UNLV men’s golf team, which had finished no worse than fourth all season, couldn’t come up with a top-10 effort when it needed one most.

The Rebels, ranked 15th in the nation, finished 24th Saturday in the 27-team NCAA West Regional, failing to advance to the NCAA Championships. Southern California had a 2-under-par 864 total in the three-round tournament to lead the 10 teams that advanced.

UNLV shot 20-over 308 Saturday for a 56-over 920 total, 32 shots behind Texas and San Diego State, who tied for ninth at 24-over 888 to claim the final two spots for the NCAA Championships.

Oregon’s Joey Benedetti won the individual title at 9-under 207. Brett Kanda led UNLV, tying for 71st at 12-over 228.

• BASEBALL — At Air Force Academy, Colo., UNLV dropped its regular-season finale 11-2 to Air Force in a Mountain West Conference game.

The Rebels (21-35, 9-15 MWC) will be seeded sixth for the Mountain West Conference Tournament, which begins Tuesday in Fort Worth, Texas. UNLV will open against third-seeded San Diego State.

• TRACK AND FIELD — At Fort Worth, Texas, Charlotte Browning took third in the 1,500-meter run to pace UNLV on the final day of the Mountain West Conference Championships.

Browning clocked 4 minutes, 28.81 seconds.

Lekeisha Lawson was fourth in the 100 dash and seventh in the 200, Lauren Johnson was sixth in the 200, Brittney Bullocks was fourth in the 400, and UNLV was third in the 4×100 relay and sixth in the 4×400 relay.

UNLV scored 35 points in the meet, taking eighth among nine teams. Colorado State won with 187.