Anchorage Daily News
 

San Diego State star wins it at the line
59-58: Spain sinks two free throws in the final seconds.

By BETH BRAGG
bbragg@adn.com

(11/28/08 04:38:52)

Asked for three words to describe himself for the San Diego State basketball media guide, senior Kyle Spain came up with this: Outgoing, cool and laid back.

He got that cool part right, that's for sure.

Spain, a rugged 6-foot-5 senior forward, calmly sank two free throws with 11 seconds left to lift the Aztecs to a 59-58 come-from-behind victory over Western Carolina in Thursday's late game at the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout.

"I just took a deep breath," Spain said. "I (tried) to shoot them the same way I do in practice."

Three seconds earlier, Western Carolina's Greg Avery missed two free throws that could have placed the Aztecs in position to hit a 3-pointer just to tie the game.

Then, after Spain hit his foul shots, Harouna Mutombo -- Western Carolina's exciting and explosive guard -- tries to drive the lane for a potential game-winning basket. Caught in traffic, he traveled with less than a second left. All San Diego State had to do to win was safely in-bounds the ball, which the Aztecs did.

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Catamounts, a team that led for most of the game and outplayed its opponent just about everywhere on the court except the foul line.

"It was a heckuva ballgame," Western Carolina coach Larry Hunter said. "They just did a good job getting to the foul line."

The Catamounts outscored the Aztecs from the floor, outrebounded them and often confounded them defensively. San Diego State won the game with free throws, hitting 18 of 30. Western Carolina, which had key players in foul trouble down the stretch and had three starters foul out, hit 7 of 12.

Aztecs coach Steve Fisher -- a former national coach of the year who's been around the game for a couple decades -- offered condolences to the Catamounts for the win that got away them. He's been on the other side of down-to-the-wire games, including some where his team -- like Western Carolina's on Thursday -- should have won but didn't.

"It's excruciatingly difficult in the Western Carolina locker room right now," Fisher said. "When you look at the whole body of work, they played better than we did.

"I feel badly for Larry and his team. But we're not giving it back."

Spain's 22 points led the Aztecs, who struggled against Western Carolina's press and against Mutombo, whose quick feet and hands led to five steals, including four straight in the first have when his team opened up its first lead of the game.

Each of the steals led to Western Carolina points, which in turn led to a 31-19 Western Carolina lead.

San Diego State narrowed the lead to 33-25 at the half and then tied it 36-36 early in the second half. A six-point run gave the lead back to the Catamounts, who never trailed again until Spain's free throws at the end.

"So, happy Thanksgiving," Fisher said. "We were given a pumpkin pie tonight, but I think we put them whipped cream on there."


Find Daily News sports reporter Beth Bragg at adn.com/sports/bbragg or 257-4335.

SAN DIEGO STATE -- Spain 5-13 10-11 22; Williams 5-7 0-0 15; White 3-6 3-5 9; Shelton 1-4 4-7 6; Amoroso 3-5 0-3 6; Cheriet 0-2 1-2 1; Davis 0-1 0-0 0; Gay 0-5 0-2 0; Thomas 0-2 0-0 0; Horton 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-45 18-30 59.

WESTERN CAROLINA -- Mutombo 7-11 4-4 20; Robinson 6-13 0-0 16; Gailliard 3-3 0-0 7; Waginger 2-6 0-0 5; Giles 2-9 0-0 5; Avery 0-4 3-8 3; Gordon 1-2 0-0 2; Gallagher 0-0 0-0 0; Parker 0-0 0-0 0; Russell 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 21-49 7-12 58.

3-point goals -- San Diego 7-17 (Williams 5-6; Spain 2-6; Amoroso 0-1; Cheriet 0-1; Davis 0-1; Gay 0-1; Thomas 0-1), Western Carolina 9-22 (Robinson 4-9; Mutombo 2-6; Giles 1-3; Waginger 1-2; Gailliard 1-1; Avery 0-1).

Halftime score -- San Diego State 25, Western Carolina 33. Fouled out -- San Diego - None, Western Carolina-Robinson; Giles; Gordon. Rebounds -- San Diego 31 (Spain 8), Western Carolina 32 (Mutombo 6). Assists -- San Diego 11 (Spain 5), Western Carolina 10 (Mutombo 4). Total fouls -- San Diego 15, Western Carolina 27. Technical fouls -- San Diego-None, Western Carolina-None. A -- 5,051.

 


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