March 02, 2017
Air Force-San Diego State Final Box
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SAN DIEGO (AP) Senior Matt Shrigley made two clutch 3-pointers in the final eight minutes and junior guard Trey Kell had a career-high 12 rebounds to lead San Diego State to a 51-38 victory over Air Force in a matchup of erratic Mountain West Conference teams Wednesday night.
There wasn't a double-digit scorer until Air Force's Frank Toohey made two free throws with 2:56 left. He finished with 12 points.
Malik Pope scored on SDSUs next possession to give him 11 points. Shrigley had 10 for three-time defending regular-season champion SDSU (17-12, 9-8 MWC).
SDSU shot only 28.8 percent (17 of 59) and Air Force 25 percent (11 of 44).
Air Force (11-19, 4-13) went 12 1/2 minutes without scoring, spanning the last 10 minutes of the first half and the first 2 1/2 of the second.
Still, the Falcons were able to tie it at 27 on a reverse layup by Lavelle Scottie with 12:27 to go.
SDSU regained the lead and pushed it to double digits with Shrigley's two 3-pointers and two clutch shots by another senior, D'Erryl Williams, who had a jumper in the key and a basket off the rebound of Kell's missed 3-pointer.
The Aztecs led 22-13 at halftime after missing their first 10 shots, including six from 3-point range, before Kell finally hit a 3-pointer more than six minutes into the game.
The Falcons failed to score in their final 16 possessions of the half.
BIG PICTURE
Air Force: The Falcons have lost eight of nine since beating San Diego State 60-57 in Colorado Springs
San Diego State is trying to finish in the MWC's top five to avoid having to play a play-in game at the conference tournament next week. To do so, they'll need to win at New Mexico on Saturday niht.
UP NEXT
Air Force finishes the regular season at home against Boise State on Saturday.
San Diego State is at New Mexico on Saturday night.