St. Augustine alum Trey Kell exploded for a career-high 27 points against Fresno State to help the first-place Aztecs hold on for a 73-67 victory.
The home crowd in San Diego almost saw the Aztecs give away a game they could have won in regulation.
The Aztecs struggled to hit their free throws and Kell missed a freebie with SDSU up 3 in the last ten seconds to give the Bulldogs a chance to tie.
Fresno’s Marvelle Harris frantically rushed an awful attempt at a game-tying three to no avail but his teammate Cezar Guerrero caught the air-ball and raced to the corner for one more try.
Guerrero lofted a high-arching shot off of one foot and somehow drilled a triple to send the game to overtime 57-57.
But Kell helped SDSU pull ahead again in the extra period, canning a deep three to put the Aztecs up 4 with the shot clock running down.
SDSU made enough free throws to fend off the Bulldogs after that and hung on for their 6th straight victory.
Zylan Cheatham and freshman Jeremy Hemsley contributed 11 points each and Skylar Spencer added 6 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks to pace the Aztecs.
SDSU improved to 6-0 in the Mountain West and 13-6 overall.
This is the 157th consecutive game the Aztecs have won when leading with 5 minutes remaining in regulation.
SDSU returns to action Saturday when the Utah State Aggies visit Viejas Arena at 3 p.m.
