The Aztecs beat San Diego Christian College 71-61 on Wednesday night at Viejas Arena. SDSU had a 36-20 lead at halftime, which made head coach Steve Fisher happy. The final score, however, left a little to be desired.
“If we had quit at halftime, I would have felt like we made progress,” said Aztecs head coach Steve Fisher. “We had to play a second half. We didn’t and they did. They’re leaving here feeling really good about themselves and that’s a positive for them. I contributed to part of that. I think the lineup was a little bit disjointed.”
Coach Fisher did not have senior Winston Shepard, who sat out with an ankle injury, and held out sophomore Trey Kell when he felt discomfort in his knee so he used a few lineups that he had not tested out before. But instead of assuming the Aztecs simply shut down, you need to give the Hawks some credit.
SDCC shot the ball well in the second half. Trevor English hit six shots from 3-point land and finished with a game-high 21 points but overall the NAIA school simply could not keep up with a perennial NCAA Tournament participant.
Sophomore Malik Pope and freshman Jeremy Hemsley each scored 14 points to lead the Aztecs. Freshman Zylan Cheatham added 13 points and eight rebounds. SDSU played in front of a 57th straight sellout crowd, but the atmosphere was not too big for the small-school guys.
“They handled it great, but most of our guys are San Diego guys and this is their dream,” said SD Christian head coach Edgar Mendez. “They love being here, so that helps. This environment isn’t surprising for them because most of them have watched games here and we’ve played them five straight years, so it’s not as big of a hurdle to them.”
The Aztecs wore turquoise uniforms to recognize Native American Heritage Month. Up next for San Diego State is another home game against Little Rock on Saturday night. San Diego Christian also plays Saturday night at Cal State San Marcos.
