Nov. 6, 2002
SAN DIEGO - The San Diego State men's basketball team opened its exhibition season Thursday night with an 83-72 victory over the Branch West All-Stars before 3,185 fans at Cox Arena on the SDSU campus.
Returning starter Mike Mackell led the way for San Diego State with 19 points and junior forward Aerick Sanders chipped in an impressive double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds. He also added two assists and a pair of blocked shots.
Two other Aztecs scored in double figures with Tony Bland scoring 13 points to go with four rebounds and six assists. Freshman Trimaine Davis came off the bench to add 10 points on 5-of-5 shooting.
The Aztecs shot 48.4 percent from the floor and canned 15 of their 20 free throws to hold off the visitors. SDSU shot 56 percent from the floor in the second half
SDSU led just 34-30 at the break despite enjoying several double-digit leads. Branch West closed to within one point several times in the second half with the final coming at the 13:31 mark, 47-46. The Aztecs slowly pulled away down the stretch with a 49-point effort in the second half.
All 10 Aztecs who played scored in the game. The Aztecs got six points on a pair of three-pointers from frosh walk-on John Sharper and Tommy Johnson came off the bench to provide a second-half spark with eight points after the intermission. Overall, the SDSU bench scored 24 points.