Aztecs off mark, still good enough

Friday, November 23, 2012

— No. 25 San Diego State still isn’t shooting lights-out.

Then again, it didn’t matter Wednesday night against Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Jamaal Franklin had 15 points and 12 rebounds and Chase Tapley added 15 points to lead the Aztecs to a 79-43 victory against the cold-shooting Golden Lions.

Freshman Skylar Spencer had 12 points and senior forward DeShawn Stephens had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Aztecs (3-1).

San Diego State led 36-14 at halftime.

The Golden Lions were just 6 of 26 (23.1 percent) in the first half and 18 of 54 (33.3 percent) overall.

San Diego State had an off-night, too, shooting 13 of 36 (36.1 percent) in the first half and 27 of 65 (41.5 percent) overall.

This was the fourth of 11 consecutive road games for the Golden Lions (1-3) to start the season. They don’t play a home game until January, when they start conference play.

Davon Haynes had 17 points and 10 rebounds for UAPB, and Mitchell Anderson had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Both teams were cold early, and the game was tied 6-6 not quite eight minutes in.

San Diego State began pulling away behind three point shots from Tapley and Franklin and an inside shot by Dwayne Polee. Xavier Thames extended the run to 9-0 with a free throw that made it 15-6.

“Good teams make those kind of adjustments to the defense we were playing,” UAPB Coach George Ivory said of the Aztecs, who made only three of their first 17 shots. “Tapley shot it very well. I thought he shot it exceptionally well. It makes a big difference.”

SUN BELT WOMEN SOUTHERN CAL 72, ARKANSAS STATE 58

LOS ANGELES - Cassie Harberts had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Southern California (2-1) jumped out to a 23-point first-half lead as it defeated Arkansas State (0-5).

Christina Marinacci added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Trojans, and Jordan Adams had 11 points. USC out rebounded the Red Wolves 42-26.

Ashley Olvera scored 11 points to lead Arkansas State, and Jane Morrill and Carlisha Wyatt had 10 each.

The Trojans used a 12-2 run to take a 16-6 lead early in the game. Harberts hit two free throws with 3:02 left in the half that capped a 15-3 run that gave USC a 36-13 lead.

Arkansas State trailed 39-20 at halftime. The Red Wolves shot just 24 percent (6 of 25) from the field and went more than eight minutes without a field goal.

Sports, Pages 29 on 11/23/2012