Shepard’s late run lifts San Diego St.

SAN DIEGO - Winston Shepard scored 14 of his 16 points in the final 7 minutes, 14 seconds and the No. 5 San Diego State Aztecs bounced back from their first loss since mid-November to beat Air Force 64-56 on Saturday night.

After the Falcons closed to 54-50 with 2:28 to go, Shepard converted a three-point play and hit two more free throws to give SDSU some breathing room.

Shepard also keyed a 9-0 run earlier in the second half with a three-pointer, a slam dunk following a steal by Xavier Thames and two free throws.

Thames and Dwayne Polee II each scored 13 points for SDSU (22-2, 11-1 Mountain West), which had its 20-game winning streak snapped Tuesday night at New Mexico. It was SDSU’s first loss since a 69-60 home defeat to Arizona on Nov. 14. Josh Davis had 10 rebounds.

Max Yon scored 20 and Kamryn Williams 12 for Air Force (10-14, 4-9). The Falcons’ leading scorer, Tre’ Coggins, was held to nine points, nearly seven below his average.

Sports, Pages 25 on 02/16/2014

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