Aztecs get another breather in clash with visiting Hawks

Jan 5, 2012 - 3:56 PM San Diego, CA (Sports Network) - In the midst of a six-game homestand at Viejas Arena, the 24th-ranked San Diego State Aztecs kick off the new calendar year against the Hawks of San Diego Christian College tonight.

San Diego State, which still has home dates against Chicago State and UNLV before hitting the road again on January 18 versus New Mexico, is enjoying a five-game win streak thanks to a 94-43 thrashing of Redlands last Friday at home. The 51-point margin of victory was the largest ever under head coach Steve Fisher and tied for the fourth-largest in program history.

SDSU, which is now 33-0 as an AP-ranked team versus unranked programs, has lost only twice in 14 games thus far, bowing to nationally-ranked Baylor and Creighton during the month of November.

As for the Hawks, a team which has alternated wins and losses over the last seven outings, this meeting is considered an exhibition and will not count towards their overall record which currently stands at 4-6 after losing to Point Loma Nazarene University two nights ago, 55-54. The setback also dropped SDCC to 0-3 against the rest of the rest of the teams in the Golden State Athletic Conference at the NAIA level.

The Aztecs defeated SDCC last season in the very first meeting between the two programs by a score of 88-69 in late November when they were nationally ranked as well.

Having committed 20 turnovers and then allowing Point Loma Nazarene to shoot 53.7 percent from the field, the Hawks could have easily lost their most recent outing a couple nights ago, but luckily they captured the one-point win. Kevin Dawson led the way for San Diego Christian with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the floor, followed by Johnny Delbene with 17 points thanks to 6-of-12 shooting, but no one else on roster converted more than just a couple of field goals which is another reason why the meeting was so close. Delbene is one of just two players scoring in double figures after 10 games for the Hawks, dropping in 11.1 ppg as he shoots an impressive 52.5 percent from three-point range, yet only 60.9 percent at the free-throw line. Benji Arvizu has missed one of the team's outings, but he is still a double- digit scoring threat with his 11.3 ppg, with 40 of his 102 total points coming at the free-throw line.

San Diego State scored the first points of the game against Redlands last week and never looked back, using the meeting as an opportunity to bolster some stats as Jamaal Franklin tallied 26 points, 10 rebounds, six steals, five assists and three blocked shots in only 28 minutes of action. Chase Tapley accounted for 16 points, LaBradford Franklin had 11, while Alec Williams, James Rahon and Garrett Green all contributed 10 points in the onslaught during which the Aztecs forced 19 turnovers and held the visitors to a mere 24.6 percent shooting from the floor and 7-of-24 behind the three-point line. Off to their second-best start in school history through 14 games, the Aztecs are now scoring 74.8 ppg on the backs of Tapley (17.3 ppg) and Jamaal Franklin (15.4 ppg). However, the team has lost a key piece of the offensive puzzle after Xavier Thames (12.0 ppg, 65 assists) had knee surgery earlier this week for a strained MCL and that puts guys like DeShawn Stephens (5.7 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and LaBradford (3.9 ppg, 20 assists) closer to the center of the action.