DALLAS (SMU) -- After a sluggish first half of play, the SMU Mustangs outscored the San Jose State Spartans 38-16 over the final 12:20 to earn an 82-69 win on Thursday, Feb. 6 at Moody Coliseum.
Trailing 53-44, the Mustangs scored 18 straight points to pull ahead 62-53 and never looked back. The stretch was part of a 25-3 run that helped lead SMU to its sixth win in the last eight games.
Down 40-30 at the half, SMU Head Coach Mike Dement inserted sophomore guard Bobby Aiktenhead into the lineup to start the second stanza and the Guatemala City, Guatemala native responded by injecting some much-needed energy into the Ponies. The walk-on scored five points and added a steal and an assist in just six minutes of play in leading the Mustangs back for the win.
"I thought Bobby was the best player on the floor for us tonight," said Dement. "He attacked from the time we put him on the floor and he gave us a real lift off the bench."
SMU dominated the second period, shooting 64.5 percent on 20-of-31 marksmanship while limiting San Jose to nine field goals on 26 attempts and outrebounding San Jose 21-13.
Defensively, SMU recorded a team- and Moody Coliseum-record 13 blocks, led by Justin Isham's four rejections. On the offensive end, the Ponies were led by Quinton Ross and Bryan Hopkins with 20 points a piece, while Patrick Simpson and Eric Castro each added 14 points and nine boards.
Up next for the Mustangs are the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors, who visit Moody for an 8:05 p.m. WAC showdown on Saturday, Feb. 8.
Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
San Jose State vs SMU Mustangs
2/6/03 7:05 p.m. at Dallas, Texas (Moody Coliseum)
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VISITORS: San Jose State 5-14, 2-8 WAC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
00 West, Keith......... * 5-13 1-3 2-5 3 0 3 4 13 4 5 1 1 36
01 Lawrence, Antonio... * 8-15 0-0 8-9 9 4 13 4 24 1 3 0 1 36
10 Hawkins, Brandon.... * 2-7 0-0 4-6 3 4 7 3 8 0 1 0 0 31
12 Sonnenberg, Scott... * 1-6 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 1 2 0 0 18
42 Everage, Keith...... * 2-8 0-0 1-4 2 2 4 0 5 1 0 1 1 21
04 Alvarez, Moises..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3
05 Moore, Maurice...... 2-3 2-2 0-0 1 1 2 5 6 2 0 0 2 18
11 Okunrinboye, Bim.... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 6
22 Guilbeaux, Kareem... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 3
23 Lilly, Brett........ 3-5 3-3 0-0 1 2 3 2 9 1 0 0 0 17
30 Walton, Eric........ 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 11
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 24-62 6-10 15-24 19 15 34 23 69 10 13 2 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-36 41.7% 2nd Half: 9-26 34.6% Game: 38.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 1-4 25.0% Game: 60.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 10-18 55.6% Game: 62.5% 5
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HOME TEAM: SMU Mustangs 11-9, 6-4 WAC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Simpson, Patrick.... * 6-10 0-0 2-4 4 5 9 5 14 3 3 2 0 26
03 Isham, Justin....... * 3-7 0-1 1-2 1 3 4 3 7 1 2 4 1 32
11 Hopkins, Bryan...... * 6-11 2-4 6-6 3 2 5 3 20 6 5 1 1 33
13 Ross, Quinton....... * 7-11 2-3 4-7 1 3 4 2 20 4 1 2 3 36
21 Castro, Eric........ * 6-8 1-1 1-3 3 6 9 1 14 2 1 1 1 30
05 Miller, Brian....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 4
12 Aitkenhead, Bobby... 2-2 0-0 1-2 0 0 0 1 5 1 0 0 1 6
23 Atkins, Lavardicus.. 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 2
24 Lowe, Kris.......... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 9
33 Kelley, Jibran...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 3 0 1 1 2 1 22
TEAM................
Totals.............. 31-54 5-11 15-24 13 23 36 21 82 19 16 13 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-23 47.8% 2nd Half: 20-31 64.5% Game: 57.4% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 3-4 75.0% Game: 45.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-10 60.0% 2nd Half: 9-14 64.3% Game: 62.5% 4
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Officials: Ed Hightower, Steve Olson & Eddie Jackson
Technical fouls: San Jose State-TEAM. SMU Mustangs-None.
Attendance: 2573
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
San Jose State................ 40 29 - 69
SMU Mustangs.................. 30 52 - 82
