A Gamble Pays Off for SDSU : Owens’ Late Steal Helps Aztecs to Win Over Wyoming, 88-82

Bobby Owens is from Las Vegas, so he knows plenty about what happens to people who take risks.

Sometimes, the risks pay off. Other times, they can be extremely costly.

Owens, a San Diego State guard, took a big risk against Wyoming Monday night at the Sports Arena. When the game was tied, 81-81, in the final minute, Owens left his man and attempted a possible game-winning steal.

He took the ball from Les Bolden and drove for a go-ahead layup. The Aztecs went on to knock Wyoming out of first place in the Western Athletic Conference, 88-82, in front of 2,547 fans.

Afterward, Owens had the smile of a Las Vegas gambler who had just hit the jackpot.

“When you make a play like that, you take chances,” he said. “He (Bolden) was guarding the ball away from Anthony Watson, but he wasn’t protecting it. I saw a little space, knocked it away with my fist and got a layup.”

In the Cowboy dressing room, Bolden knew he had been taken by a gambling play. Bolden talked at length with an assistant coach, who asked that Bolden not be interviewed.

“They just double-teamed the ball and stole it,” Wyoming assistant Jessie Evans said. “It was no big thing. You have to protect the ball in that situation. Bobby made a good play for them.”

The Aztecs (6-12) concluded first-half play in the WAC with a 5-3 record. They are tied for fourth place with New Mexico, one game behind Texas El Paso and Brigham Young at 6-2. Wyoming, 10-8 overall, is third at 4-2.

The Cowboys knew they had blown a seemingly easy chance to remain in first. They led with two minutes remaining, 81-75, but were outscored down the stretch, 13-1.

Even after Owens made his go-ahead layup with 42 seconds remaining, Wyoming had a chance to. But Owens nearly stole the ball again when Wyoming came downcourt, and the Cowboys called timeout with 28 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing play, SDSU’s Steffond Johnson stole a pass inside from Fennis Dembo. Johnson was fouled immediately and made one of two free throws with 13 seconds remaining, giving SDSU an 84-81 lead.

With seven seconds remaining, Wyoming’s Turk Boyd pulled his team within two points, 84-82, by making one of two free throws. Watson sealed the game with four free throws in the final six seconds.

Watson, coming off a career-high 34 points in an 83-80 overtime loss at Hawaii, led all scorers with 30 points. Johnson, playing his fourth game since recovering from a lower back injury, had 22 points and a team-high 7 rebounds.

“Having Steffond back has helped me a lot,” Watson said. “I was playing out of position at forward before he came back. I had a lot taken out of me by blocking guys who were 6-9, 6-8 and 6-7.”

After SDSU had trailed, 81-75, with two minutes remaining, it took five successive Wyoming turnovers for the Aztecs to win.

Bolden was called for charging and Johnson responded with a dunk. Sean Dent lost the ball out of bounds and Tracy Dildy responded with a layup. Boyd traveled and Johnson responded with a 7-foot jump shot with one minute remaining, tying the score, 81-81.

Then came the steals by Owens and Johnson.

“We didn’t handle their pressure,” Jessie Evans said. “We had enough points. Things like that happen on the road.”

For a majority of the night, Wyoming appeared to be on the road to victory. The Cowboys led by seven points on three occasions in the first half and were ahead most of the second half. Their biggest lead was eight points, 75-67, with 4 1/2 minutes left.

SDSU kept switching from man-to-man to zone defenses, but the result was usually the same. Wyoming continually got the ball inside to 6-11 center Eric Leckner, who scored 28 points mostly on layups.

“We kept going from zone to man to zone to man,” said Smokey Gaines, SDSU’s coach. “They just kept dropping the ball to the big fella. I thought our man defense worked in the last five minutes because they were tired coming from Hawaii.”