Aztecs Finally End Road, WAC Victory Drought : College basketball: San Diego State stops Air Force in 52-48 victory.

Jim Brandenburg, San Diego State basketball coach, has been waiting for something good to happen to his team.

The players have paid attention in practice, he says. They have learned. They have hustled, muscled and improved.

What they haven’t done much of lately, though, is win.

Until Thursday, when the Aztecs defeated Air Force, 52-48, for their first Western Athletic Conference victory of the season. It was the fewest points allowed by the Aztecs since Jan. 5, 1984, when they held the University of San Diego to 47.

The game was sluggish and, at times, looked like more of a slow dance than a basketball game. But by the end of it, the Aztecs (6-7, 1-2) were able to dress, smile, and walk out of a basketball arena with a victory for the first time since Dec. 27.

And, uh, the arena they walked out of wasn’t their own. For the first time since last Jan. 13--also at Air Force--the Aztecs won on the road. They were able to overcome an inconsistent first half and missed free throws in the second half in front of a crowd of 1,710 in Cadet Field House.

SDSU got the ball inside to Marty Dow (19 points, 12 rebounds), Joe McNaull grabbed every rebound in his vicinity (he finished with 11, his SDSU best, as well as three blocks), and Vern Thompson practically invaded Chris Lowry’s breathing space, holding Air Force’s leading scorer and rebounder to 14 points and four rebounds.

These were good moments for the Aztecs, and there were enough to win a game more easily than the final score indicated. SDSU outrebounded Air Force, 36-25, and had better ball movement, as evidenced by 15 assists compared to Air Force’s 10.

Reasons why the score was close? Maybe in part because the Aztecs are young, using four first-year players. SDSU scored only six points in the final 7:20 of the first half and watched a 10-point lead melt to three at halftime. In the second half, the Aztecs built a nine-point lead with only 3:20 to play . . . and promptly started to miss from the free-throw line. They blew the front end of three one-and-ones in the final 1:24.

The Aztecs made just nine of 17 second-half free throws--four of 11 in the final 3:20--otherwise, they wouldn’t have had to sweat in the final minutes.

“You know who the free-throw coach was?” Brandenburg asked.

He paused, and then turned toward the locker room.

“One of those guys in there,” he said, laughing.

It turned into a night of laughter for several reasons. Dow, for one. He is from Aurora, Colo.--a Denver suburb--and was playing in front of his parents, brother, sister-in-law, high school coach, even his best friend from kindergarten.

“It’s always fun to come back,” he said. “It’s exciting to be able to win and play well in front of people I know.”

Dow is 7-foot-1, and McNaull is 6-11. Air Force has nobody taller than 6-8, so the Aztecs wanted to take the ball inside against the Falcons.

“We knew they were going to pack it in tight on us,” Dow said. “The guards made great passes.”

One of those guards was Arthur Massey, who finished with 13 points and led SDSU down the stretch. Air Force closed to within five, 41-36, with just over five minutes remaining, when Massey hit a three-pointer. He finished SDSU’s next possession with a layup, followed that with a steal and was fouled.

He missed the first free throw, ending his SDSU record for consecutive free throws at 34, but made his second. SDSU led, 47-38, with 3:20 remaining, and that would have been it if the Aztecs had made their free throws.

“I think Jimmy’s (Brandenburg) got them playing hard,” Air Force Coach Reggie Minton said. “They do a good job. McNaull plays well. I like their team. They’re young, enthusiastic and get after you on the boards.”

SDSU adjusted its offense in the second half better to attack Air Force’s matchup zone, enabling the Aztecs to get the ball to Dow more. Their man-to-man defense frustrated the Falcons, who went 5:40 without scoring at one point in the first half, and 5:57 without a field goal in the second. Thompson kept Lowry in check.