San Diego – Kyle Spain scored a career-high 22 points Saturday as San Diego State outlasted Colorado State 81-76.
The game was tied five times, the last at 56-56 before Spain and Mohamed Abukar keyed a 12-1 run that gave San Diego State a 68-57 lead with a little more than seven minutes to play.
Cory Lewis, who scored a team-high 21 for Colorado State, and Jason Smith, who had 19 points, sparked a late surge by the Rams, who cut the Aztecs’ lead to three points twice at 74-71 and 77-74 in the final two minutes. However, a 3-pointer by Brandon Heath and two free throws by Abukar answered both threats.
Spain, a 6-foot-5 sophomore forward who was 7-of-9 from the field and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line, was one of four double-figure scorers for the Aztecs.
“It was great. I’ve been frustrated the past couple of games,” Spain said. “I told myself I just need to go out there and play hard every game, and it will fall into place.”
Abukar had 16 points and Heath had 15. Lorrenzo Wade added 13 points and nine rebounds for San Diego State (12-5, 1-2 Mountain West Conference).
There were eight lead changes in the game with Colorado State garnering its last lead at 54-53 on a shot by Tim Denson with 13:18 left.
“I thought both teams played extremely hard,” CSU coach Dale Layer said. “They played pretty close to a perfect game. We played a good game, we just didn’t play quite well enough.”
The Rams (12-4, 2-2) had won 11 of their past 12.
COLORADO STATE (12-4, 2-2 MWC)
Jas. Smith 8-13 3-6 19, Creason 1-4 3-4 5, Lewis 8-12 2-2 21, T. Smith 4-11 0-0 9, Denson 3-7 0-0 7, Kilby 3-4 0-0 6, Surratt 0-0 0-0 0, F. Robinson 0-1 0-0 0, Aguilar 0-0 0-0 0, Gilling 3-9 0-0 9. Totals 30-61 8-12 76.
SAN DIEGO STATE (12-5, 1-2)
Wade 5-14 2-2 13, Spain 7-9 7-9 22, Abukar 6-13 4-4 16, Heath 5-8 3-3 15, Williams 2-3 2-2 7, Habel 1-2 3-4 5, Pastorek 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 27-51 21-24 81.
Halftime – Tied 41. 3-point goals – Colorado State 8-23 (Lewis 3-6, Gilling 3-8, Denson 1-4, T. Smith 1-5), San Diego State 6-13 (Heath 2-3, Williams 1-1, Wade 1-2, Pastorek 1-2, Spain 1-3, Abukar 0-2). Fouled out – Creason. Rebounds – Colorado State 29 (Jas. Smith 7), San Diego State 29 (Wade 9). Assists – Colorado State 13 (T. Smith 5), San Diego State 17 (Heath, Williams 6). Total fouls – Colorado State 20, San Diego State 16. A – 6,344.
