No. 23 San Diego State beats Cal Baptist 81-75 after nearly blowing 19-point lead

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Miles Byrd scored 19 points and made two highlight-reel plays for No. 23 San Diego State, which blew most of a 19-point lead before beating California Baptist 81-75 Wednesday night for its fourth straight win.

Byrd made a no-look bounce pass to Magoon Gwath for a slam dunk and a 54-45 lead with 14:40 to go. A few minutes later, Byrd stole a pass and went in for a dunk to make it 66-49.

The Lancers cut it to 77-73 on Javonte Johnson’s 3-pointer with two minutes left, but Nick Boyd made a bank shot and Byrd hit two free throws to seal the win.

Boyd added 16 points and played with a bandage over his left eye after getting elbowed by AJ Braun midway through the first half. Gwath and Miles Heide each scored 10 for the Aztecs (7-2).

Dominique Daniels Jr. scored 22 points for the Lancers (5-5). Kendal Coleman added 13 and Adam Moussa 10.

Takeaways

California Baptist: The Lancers beat Fresno State 86-81 in double overtime on Nov. 27 during a holiday tournament but couldn't beat another Mountain West school on Wednesday.

San Diego State: The Aztecs were facing the Lancers for the first time and have now played all 25 California Division I teams.

Key moment

Boyd was elbowed by Braun with 9:36 left in the first half. Braun was called for a flagrant foul and Boyd made the second of two free throws to put the Aztecs ahead 22-21, and the Lancers never got the lead back.

Key stat

San Diego State shot 52.9% from 3 while Cal Baptist shot 36.4% from behind the arc.

Up next

Cal Baptist visits Middle Tennessee on Monday. San Diego State plays California in San Jose on Dec. 23.

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Bernie Wilson, The Associated Press