Nov. 2, 2015
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SAN DIEGO -
Cal State San Marcos-San Diego State Final Box
San Diego State received a game-high 22 points and five assists from Winston Shepard and the Aztecs defeated Cal State San Marcos, 86-48, in an exhibition Monday night on Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena.
Prior to the game, Fisher addressed the crowd for the first time since SDSU honored the 17th-year head coach by naming the hardwood after him late last week. Once the festivities were over, the Aztecs rolled out a starting five of seniors Shepard and Skylar Spencer, junior Dakarai Allen, sophomore Trey Kell and freshman Jeremy Hemsley.
The group fell behind 3-0 and did not find the bottom of the hoop until Spencer converted a jump hook 2:10 into the game. The Cougars regained the lead at 9-8 with 14:14 left in the first half and from there it was all Aztecs. Angelo Chol came off the bench at the first media timeout and scored six straight points to lift SDSU to a 14-9 advantage.
Zylan Cheatham, a redshirt freshman, continued San Diego State's run with two free throws, which were also the first two points scored of his Aztec career. After a brief bit of resistance from the Cougars in the way of a CSUSM layup, SDSU scored 14 consecutive points to lead, 30-11. The Aztecs ended up entering the locker room at halftime up, 44-26.
San Diego State continued where it left off in the second half as it opened the frame on a 9-2 run to move ahead, 52-28. Cal State San Marcos was able to get some stops and received back-to-back three-pointers from Akachi Okugo en route to a 7-0 spurt. The Cougars' 17-point deficit with 13:35 left would be as close as they would get the rest of the way as the Aztecs cruised to the 38-point win.
In all, 11 Aztecs played and each had at least one made field goal. Joining Shepard in double figures was freshman walk-on Ben Perez, who scored 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting (3-4 3FG), and Chol, who turned in 11 points on a 4-of-5 shooting performance. Spencer, meanwhile, had nine points, game-high 10 boards and a team-best two blocked shots.
Cheatham, making his Aztec debut after redshirting a year ago, finished with eight points, six rebounds, three assists, one blocked shot and one steal in 21 minutes. In addition to Perez and Cheatham, Hemsley made his SDSU debut as well. The guard from Rancho Cucamonga played 28 minutes and posted seven points, four rebounds, two assists, one blocked shot and one steal.
As a team, San Diego State shot 48.5 percent from the floor, helped by Shepard's 10-of-15 performance from the field, and outrebounded the Cougars, 45-37. The Aztecs also enjoyed large advantages in points in the paint (46-14), points off turnovers (21-8), second-chance points (14-9), fastbreak points (20-2) and bench points (40-5).
For Cal State San Marcos, it was led by Okugo's 15 points and Ben Dickinson's 13 points and 10 rebounds. Darnell Taylor, meanwhile, added 12 points.
SDSU returns to action on Friday, Nov. 13, when it plays host to Illinois State at 7 p.m. PT on Steve Fisher Court at Viejas Arena. The game vs. Fisher's alma mater is set to air on ESPN3.