St. Mary’s wins Wooden rematch

The people at the John R. Wooden Classic know a good thing when they see it.

Last season, they watched St. Mary’s and San Diego State play down to the wire, so they invited the teams back for the early game Saturday at the Honda Center and got another good show, St. Mary’s making all the key plays in the final minutes to pull out a 67-64 victory.

Gaels forward Diamon Simpson led all scorers with 20 points, but it was his 15 rebounds, two in the closing seconds, that made the difference.

“Basically, I focus on rebounding,” Simpson said. “There were a few possessions where they left me and I got the rebounds.”

St. Mary’s (7-1) won last season’s matchup by a similar score of 69-64. This time, the Gaels were down by a point with 2:26 remaining and went on a 6-2 run.

“It’s disappointing,” San Diego State forward Tim Shelton said. “We had an opportunity to get a resume win.”

The Aztecs (8-3) were losing by six at halftime but climbed back into the game on a pair of Shelton baskets. He led his team with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

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david.wharton@latimes.com