SDSU Continues Downward Spiral, Loses

In a Western Athletic Conference basketball contest featuring a pair of teams headed in opposite directions, the end result was, well, predictable.

As expected, San Diego State--losers of seven straight WAC contests coming in--dropped a 62-45 decision to Colorado State Saturday night, extending the Rams’ winning streak to five out of their last six.

The Aztecs complete the season 4-12 in the conference and 13-17 overall and finish as the WAC’s eighth seed. As a result, SDSU will face Air Force in the WAC tournament eighth-place contest Wednesday night in El Paso, Tex.

Interestingly, Colorado State (21-7, 11-5) finishes as the No. 1 seed and will meet Wednesday’s night’s winner.

Still, it was the Aztecs who gained a moral victory in the first half Saturday night after battling the Rams to a virtual standstill before 9,871 surprised Moby Arena fans.

A late Mark Meredith three-pointer gave Colorado State a 29-23 halftime lead, but it was SDSU that headed into the locker room feeling vindicated.

“We were loose coming in here; we knew we could come right out and play with them,” said center Shawn Jamison, who scored 16 points. “There were some high hopes for the second half but they (Colorado State) took it over right away.”

Actually, the Ram eruption came four minutes into the half. After a Jamison layup narrowed the Colorado State margin to 33-32, the Rams embarked on a 17-5 run over the next seven minutes to dig the Aztecs a 13-point grave.

After nine early points in the half, the Aztec offense went into a tail-spin, scoring just nine points in one 13 minute span.

The Aztecs finished with a 18-of-49 performance from the floor while the Rams were slightly better at 19-of-52.

Still, SDSU coach Jim Brandenburg preferred to give the Rams the credit.

“They simply got the job done and completely outplayed us,” he said. “They hustled and played like the league champions they are in the second half.”

Colorado State coach Boyd Grant, however, wasn’t as enthralled with his squad’s performance.

“We struggled a bit tonight; we never completely established ourselves except for stretches in the second half,” he said.

“I can only hope we’ll play better in El Paso.”

One telling factor in SDSU’s second-half drought was the loss of guard Michael Best, who fouled out of the contest with 8:45 remaining. The senior finished with a team-high 17 points--including a three-of-six performance from three-point territory.

“That one really hurt,” said Brandenburg, who waged a game-long battle with officials and drew his first technical foul of the season in the first half. “Michael was having one of his better games of the year.

“When he went out, we had to focus on getting it inside to Jamison and we just couldn’t do it because they (Colorado State) knew that was our only realistic option at that point.”

Meredith, the Rams’ junior guard, also put a dent in the SDSU strategy with his outside accuracy.

With the Aztecs mainly concentrating on center Mike Mitchell, the Rams’ leading scorer, Meredith finished with a game high 22 points, including a quartet of three-pointers.

Mitchell, meanwhile, finished with 17, hitting four of 11 attempts.

“He (Meredith) caught us a little off guard,” said Best of Meredith. “We were focusing inside on Mitchell but that guy lit it up from outside. He sure didn’t put it up like that earlier this year (a 64-57 Colorado State win on Feb. 18).”

Still, Best said the Aztecs are prepared for a Colorado State rematch in the tournament.

“We’re concentrating 100% on Air Force right now, but I think we’ll have a good shot at Colorado State on a neutral floor.

“For one thing, we sure don’t want to end the year having lost to one team three times in a season.”