This Victory Means a Lot for Aztecs

This was a victory that Jim Brandenburg said he felt in his gut and his heart.

His San Diego State basketball team defeated Colorado State, 62-57, in front of 3,924 at the San Diego Sports Arena Thursday night, in a special game for the Aztecs.

The game had significance because it meant that for the first time in 3 seasons, the Aztecs opened Western Athletic Conference play with a victory. And to do so, they had to beat the coaches’ preseason choice to win the title, a team that had won the past five meetings between the schools, two last season by a combined 41 points.

That is where the guts came into play.

“For the first time this year, I felt we had something down inside that was not going to let us be unsuccessful,” Brandenburg said. “I mean there was something down inside us that we were going to stay after it and find ways to prevail. It is that type of thing that will gel our basketball team.”

But beyond the excitement of the moment, the game had deeper meaning for Brandenburg. This was a matchup of friends: Brandenburg against Colorado State Coach Boyd Grant, his roommate when the two played at the school in the mid 1950s. And for the first time in four major-college tries, Brandenburg defeated his good friend.

It was not a time to gloat.

“If you want to know the truth, we love each other,” Brandenburg said. “The kind of affection we both have for each other will transcend this game and many more.”

The feeling, after more than 30 years, remains mutual.

“I hugged him at the half, and I said let it be tied at the end so we can go another 5 (minutes),” Grant said, “but he didn’t seem to take my advice.

“He has got to feel good. His team deserved to win. I enjoyed that part for him because I know he wanted to win, and it was a big win for him, too.”

The Aztecs (7-4, 1-0 in WAC) started as if they were going to make quick work of the Rams (7-5, 0-1), dominating inside and on the boards.

Senior center Mitch McMullen scored the first five of his team-high 17 points as SDSU took a 17-7 lead with 14:42 to play in the half.

But then the Aztecs got sloppy. They went on a 6:45 scoreless streak in which they made six turnovers and missed their only two shots.

“We jumped out early on them; then we stopped running our offense,” Brandenburg said. “We stood around, and they just stood and matched up with us. We were not productive offensively, and they warmed up with us.”

That allowed Colorado State to go on a 9-0 run to draw within 17-16 at 8:10. Pat Durham, the senior all-WAC forward who had been held scoreless through the first 11 minutes, scored the last five of those nine points.

Durham would recover from his slow start to finish with a game-high 21 points.

“You slow (Durham) down, you don’t stop him,” Brandenburg said. “He is quick, strong, puts the ball on the floor and is a great rebounder.”

McMullen finally ended the scoreless streak with a 3-point play off a dunk to give the Aztecs a 20-16 lead with 7:57 left in the half. But by now, the Aztecs knew they were in for a game.

Colorado State drew within one twice before finally taking its first lead on Durham’s tip-in at 1:23.

Junior center Eric Friehauf stretched the Colorado State lead to 31-28 on a lay-in with 49 seconds left before SDSU guard Michael Best made a 21-foot 3-pointer 15 seconds later to tie the game at 31-31 at the half.

The tone had been set for a contentious second half.

The lead changed nine times, and there were two ties in the first 11:12. No team could take more than a 3-point lead.

That finally changed when the Aztecs went on a 6-point run to take a 50-45 lead with 7:29 to play and never looked back. The first two of the baskets came on fast-break passes from guard Bryan Williams, who finished with a game-high 9 assists (giving him 28 in the past three games).

The Aztecs stretched their advantage to 61-51 with 58 seconds left before the Rams scored six of the last seven points to make the final score close. It was quite a difference from the two easy victories the Rams scored last year against SDSU.

“They are more physical and can bring it on the break better,” Grant said. “We wouldn’t want to play San Diego State even if it was in the zoo.”

The importance of the victory could be seen in Brandenburg’s lack of substitutions. Four of the starters played at least 35 minutes, and the starters accounted for 177 of the 200 available playing minutes.