Men's Basketball

Seniors Sweep Viejas Finale

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Seniors Sweep Viejas FinaleSeniors Sweep Viejas Finale

SAN DIEGO -- — Matt Mitchell hit two free throws with 3.3 seconds left and fellow senior Jordan Schakel made four free throws in the final 8.7 seconds for San Diego State, which beat Boise State 62-58 Saturday for its 10th straight victory.

Schakel finished with 17 points, and Mitchell had eight points, eight rebounds and four steals.

Sweeping the two-game series against the Broncos means the Aztecs (19-4, 13-3 Mountain West) can repeat as regular-season conference champions if they win at UNLV on Wednesday night.

BSU (18-6, 14-5) came into the series with a half-game lead. On Tuesday, the Mountain West awarded San Diego State a pair of forfeit victories over New Mexico. Those games do not count in SDSU's overall or formal conference record, but will count for seeding and conference championship implications.

Broncos star Derrick Alston Jr. had a miserable game, scoring just seven points — 11 under his average — on 2-of-12 shooting. He went 1 for 9 from 3-point range.

Schakel came up big despite being in foul trouble for most of the game. He drew his second foul midway through the first half, his third early in the second half and then his fourth with 4:17 to go.
Boise State got within one point several times in the closing minutes, including after 3-pointers from Devonaire Doutrive and Marcus Shaver Jr.

But the Broncos could never get the lead and had to foul. Schakel made two free throws with 8.7 seconds to go and two more with 5.8 seconds left, sandwiched around two free throws by Doutrive.
Doutrive made the second of two free throws with 3.8 seconds left before Mitchell sealed it with two more foul shots.

Schakel also had two clutch 3-pointers on consecutive possessions midway through the second half.

After the Broncos closed to 38-36 on two free throws by Emmanuel Akot, Schakel hit a long shot from the left wing and then hit one from the right corner before tumbling out of bounds.

Senior Terrell Gomez scored SDSU's first seven points of the second half, including a 3-pointer, for a 31-24 lead.

Shaver and Doutrive scored 13 apiece for BSU. Mladen Armus had 10 points and 12 rebounds.

On Thursday night, SDSU blew a 17-point lead before winning 78-66 in overtime.

BIG PICTURE
Boise State: The Broncos are 8-58 all-time against Top 25 opponents, including 3-33 under coach Leon Rice. One of those victories came at Viejas Arena on Feb. 28, 2015, 56-46 against No. 24 SDSU.

San Diego State: The Aztecs held a private ceremony for its seniors after practice on Friday and those five players started Saturday. Joining Mitchell and Schakel were Gomez, Trey Pulliam and Joshua Tomaić. The NCAA will grant everyone an extra year of eligibility, but Mitchell, who toyed with entering the NBA draft last before returning, almost certainly won't be back.

UP NEXT
Boise State plays its regular-season finale Tuesday night at home against Fresno State

San Diego State ends its regular season at UNLV on Wednesday night in the makeup of one of two games that had been postponed.