SAN DIEGO – San Diego State Men’s Basketball returned to Steve Fisher Court for their final preseason exhibition of the 2026-2027 season. The Aztecs faced off against Long Beach State and came away with a 92-67 victory. The two programs met during a regular season contest last year with SDSU earning a 77-45 win on their home court. The Aztecs wrap up preseason play as the regular season is set to begin next Tuesday with Cal State Fullerton visiting Viejas Arena.
San Diego State jumped out to an early 14-9 lead during the first five minutes of action. Elzie Harrington converted the first shot of the game while Chance Gladden pumped in five points before Long Beach took their first timeout. The Beach would use three consecutive SDSU turnovers to go on a 6-0 scoring run and take a 17-16 lead with just under 14:00 minutes on the clock. A Bear Cherry “And-1” ignited a 12-3 run in favor of SDSU and would open up a nine-point lead for Brian Dutcher’s team. Both teams would exchange buckets late with Chance Gladden knocking down a three-point shot as time expired to give the Aztec’s a seven-point, 45-38, lead into the break.
Through the first frame of play Chance Gladden was the half’s top scorer with 11 points while converting three of four shots from deep. Cherry chipped in nine first half points to go along with three blocks and three rebounds. Harrington and freshman Zach White each added eight points while Harrington led SDSU with four first half rebounds.
San Diego State wasted no time extending their lead coming out of halftime with Latrell Davis converting on a driving layup. The first three minutes were highlighted by 11 straight points for the Aztec’s including a pair of transition buckets off of Long Beach turnovers which moved SDSU’s lead to 56-38. A Long Beach layup with 14:20 on the clock would give way to 10-0 scoring run for the Aztecs with Luka Skoric erupting for eight consecutive points before Cherry would fill the lane in transition for an emphatic dunk that pushed SDSU’s lead to 25. From that point on San Diego State maintained a lead of at least 20 points through the final buzzer.
It was a balanced offensive effort from the Aztecs with six players all scoring in double figures. Latrell Davis led the way with 14 points on 5-8 shooting from the floor. Chance Gladden dished out a game high seven assists to go along with his 11 points, all of which came in the first half. Bear Cherry and Luca Vincini paced the team on the defensive side of the court with Cherry chipping in four blocks and Vincini swiping three steals.
San Diego State’s defense was stellar, practically in the second half. Over the final 20 minutes of action Long Beach was held to just 31 percent shooting from the floor and 29 percent from three. The Aztec’s defense forced 14 turnovers that resulted in 20 points. They also dominated the rebounding battle pulling down 42 rebounds compared to just 22 for the Beach.
UP NEXT
San Diego State now turns its attention to regular season play. Cal State Fullerton is set to arrive at Viejas Arena on Tuesday, November 3 for a 7:00 p.m. PT tip off. The game will be broadcast live on the Pac-12’s YouTube page HERE while also broadcast on San Diego Sports 760.