Wyoming’s Rally Sends SDSU to an 85-73 Loss

San Diego State gave league-leading Wyoming a run for its money Thursday night but came up empty-handed after an 85-73 Western Athletic Conference loss in Laramie, Wyo.

The defeat extended the Aztecs’ school-record losing streak to 17 games.

“We played a good first half,” SDSU Coach Smokey Gaines said. “We just ran out of gas in the second half. Wyoming had that spurt out of the locker room to start the second half, and you just can’t let that happen against a good team.”

The scored was tied, 33-33, at halftime, but Wyoming scored the first nine points of the second half, including five by Fennis Dembo, who finished with a game-high 29 points.

“We played the way we wanted to play in the first half,” Gaines said. “We had our up-tempo going, but we just couldn’t seem to put two good halves together.”

The victory kept Wyoming (11-2, 19-6) in first place in the conference. The Aztecs (2-23, 0-13) remained in last.

The Aztecs fell behind by 15-6 early in the game but rallied to tie it at 17-17, helped by Daryl Gaines’ two three-point shots. The Aztecs went ahead for the first time, 27-25, on a layin by Rod Hawkins with 2:49 left in the half, and their largest lead was 33-29 with 59 seconds remaining.

But Wyoming came out strong in the second half and pulled away, leading by as many as 17 points.

Dembo shot 10 for 15 from the field, including 4 for 6 from three-point range. Eric Leckner added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Cowboys.

Gaines led the Aztecs with 20 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field, hitting 5 of 6 from three-point range. Tony Ross added 12 points for the Aztecs.

Wyoming shot 57.6 % from the field, and the Aztecs shot 35.4%.