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No. 17 San Diego State rolls past Gaels

Dec 2, 2010 - 6:52 AM San Diego, CA (Sports Network) - Chase Tapley scored 14 points while Malcolm Thomas added 12 points and six rebounds as 17th-ranked San Diego State topped St. Mary's, 69-55, at Viejas Arena.

Kawhi Leonard supplied six points and eight boards for the Aztecs (7-0), who blocked a season-high 10 shots en route to a school-record 17th straight non- conference home victory.

San Diego State is off to its best start since winning eight in a row to begin the 2006-07 campaign.

"It was a good team victory created by our defense," San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher said. "I thought we played extremely hard, and we earned a victory against a very good basketball team."

Rob Jones totaled 17 points and Matthew Dellavedova provided 15 points and five rebounds for the Gaels (6-2), who have dropped two in a row.

San Diego State, which has overcome large early deficits on a number of occasions in the young season, raced out to a 14-2 lead on a Billy White jumper inside of 4 1/2 minutes into the game.

St. Mary's got the lead down to four but the Aztecs closed the half on a 14-5 run to take a 37-24 lead at the break.

White's layup gave the Aztecs a 55-35 advantage just shy of the midpoint of the second half before the Gaels ran off 12 of the next 14 points to cut the lead in half with 6 1/2 minutes to play.

A Jones three-pointer made it a nine-point game with 3:12 remaining but the Aztecs received three free throws from James Rohan and a layup from Leonard to secure the victory.

"We came in here and spotted them 10 points at the start of the game," said St. Mary's coach Randy Bennett. "We can't do that against a team as good as they are. This was our first true road game and it showed. I give them credit, though. They exposed a lot of things. Most of all, we have to get mentally tougher and become better competitors on the road."

Game Notes

This is the fifth time in 41 years as a Division 1 team that San Diego State has started a season 7-0...The Aztecs have won 19 straight home games against unranked opponents...St. Mary's had won three of the last four meetings, including an 80-58 decision last season that was San Diego State's largest margin of defeat...The Gaels lead the all-time series, 6-5...Jones shot 6-of-13, including 5-of-10 from beyond the arc, while Dellavedova knocked down 3-of-5 from long range for the Gaels, who shot 39.3 percent in the loss...Tapley connected on 6-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point territory...Each team pulled down 35 rebounds...Wednesday was the ninth sellout in arena history.