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San Diego State opens with win over Long Beach State

Nov 14, 2010 - 3:34 AM Long Beach, CA (Sports Network) - Kawhi Leonard scored 21 points and pulled down 12 rebounds as 25th-ranked San Diego State downed Long Beach State, 81-65, at Walter Pyramid.

D.J. Gay had 20 points and dished out three assists for the Aztecs (1-0), who also got 14 points from James Rahon, and 10 boards, nine points and six assists from Malcolm Thomas. Chase Tapley added 11 points.

T.J. Robinson led the way for the 49ers (0-1) with 19 points and nine rebounds. Casper Ware posted 15 points and Greg Plater had 10 in a losing cause.

Robinson's jumper and a pair of free throws by Eugene Phelps provided a 53-50 edge for Long Beach State with 12:55 to go, but San Diego State posted a 16-5 run which gave it the lead for good.

Rahon hit a jumper to start the burst, then a Billy White tip-in put the Aztecs back on top at 54-53 with 11 minutes left.

Rahon later drained a pair of treys to bring the lead to 62-55 with 8:07 left, then Thomas hit the front end of two from the line, making it 66-58 with 6:24 to play.

Long Beach only got as close as 66-62 with 5:48 left on a Ware layup, but he missed his free-throw chance, and Gay hit from beyond the arc to make it a seven-point game inside of five minutes to go.

That was the first bucket in SDSU's game-closing 15-3 run.

An early run put the 49ers ahead 16-9 less than seven minutes in, as Plater sank a jumper, but the Aztecs countered with an 18-6 burst. Leonard cruised in for a layup for a 27-22 lead with 7:36 to play.

Leonard hit another deuce with 3:51 remaining, adding a free throw to make it a 40-32 advantage. Right back came the home team with a 10-2 burst to draw even at 42-42 on a Robinson slam.

Game Notes

SDSU leads the all-time series 35-22, and has taken 11 of the last 12 meetings...Phelps ended with nine points and six boards...SDSU shot 50.8 percent.