RENO, Nev. (AP) – Filiberto Rivera scored 17 of his 32 points in the last 6 minutes to help Texas El-Paso hold off Boise State 91-78 on Saturday night in the championship of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.

John Tofi added 21 points, Omar Thomas had 15 and Giovanni St. Amant 13 for the second-seeded Miners (27-7), who shot 67 percent from the field in the second half to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

It was the seventh straight win for the Miners, who are 21-0 when scoring 70 or more this season. Their 27 wins are the most since they went 27-7 and reached the final 16 in the 1992 NCAA tournament.

Coby Karl had 24 points, and Jason Ellis added 16 for the eighth-seeded Broncos (16-18), who upset top-seeded Nevada and Fresno State to become the lowest seed ever to advance to the WAC title game.

UTEP led 41-31 at the half and opened a 61-41 lead when Tofi was fouled on a basket inside and converted a 3-point play to cap an 11-2 run with 12:34 left.

Boise State followed with 10 straight points, including six free throws from Karl, to pull to 61-51 with 9 minutes remaining. But St. Amant hit from behind the arc, and Miguel Ayala connected from 19 feet to help push UTEP’s lead to 68-53.

Ellis scored nine in a row and Karl hit a 3 to cut it to 76-67 at 3:59. But Thomas made two free throws and Rivera hit a 3 for an 81-67 lead with 2:43 left.

Rivera, the tourney MVP, made 8-of-8 free throws and St. Amant hit both of his down the stretch to seal the win. Rivera was 9-of-13 from the field, including three 3s, and made 11 of 12 free throws to go with a game-high eight assists.

The Broncos hit five of their first seven from the field, but only five of their next 21 and had six turnovers in the first 13 minutes of the game. They finished with 15 turnovers to UTEP’s seven.

AP-ES-03-12-05 2349EST