San Diego-St. Mary's: Aztecs Win 70-66 To Gain Spot in NIT Semifinals

Last night, the San Diego State Men's Basketball team defeated St. Patty's, err...St. Mary's on national television.

Frustratingly, SportsCenter's highlights of the game showed two Patrick Mills highlights and only the game-winning shot by Tim Shelton for the Aztecs (although Billy White's alley-oop did make the Top 10 at No. 3).

This is especially frustrating because this was a game the Aztecs never trailed in and they had the lead for all but a couple of possessions. In was a game in which the Aztecs held the Gaels to a 38.8 field goal percentage.

But it was also a game in previous seasons, or even earlier this season, the Aztecs would have found a way to lose.

And that is why this game was so important, and so satisfying for Aztecs fans.

Billy White had maybe the best game of his career, as he scored 17 points on 8-of-12 shooting, and provided the play that may go down as one of the most famous in San Diego State basketball history.

The alley-oop nearly blew the roof off the building, as it exploded to levels comparable to the arena the Utah Jazz play in. But St. Mary's came back and answered back on a number of occasions.

They answered back when the Aztecs blew out to a thundering 13-0 lead. They trimmed the halftime deficit to a mere 11 points. And with about five minutes to go they tied the game. And this is what makes us Aztec fans so proud.

Two times at home this season, the Aztecs played similarly in games against quality teams, and when the opposition came back, they never recovered. But last night they did.

Maybe it was the seniors, knowing this would be the last time they would ever play at Cox Arena, or the underclassmen sensing this could be the start of something even bigger and better. Or maybe is was coach Steve Fisher with so much experience, or perhaps the fans willing the team to victory.

It was likely a little bit of all those factors.

As I mentioned in my preview for the game, it would come down to defense. The Aztecs held Patrick Mills to 18 points on 7-24 shooting. And they turned him over five times.

That defense allowed the Aztecs to overcome some instances where they took some forced shots. That defense set up a number of easy baskets, and it forced Patrick Mills to turn the ball over in a last gasp effort to tie the game with 11 seconds to go.

All this being said, the Aztecs still needed a basket to win the game, and the man they went to was redshirt freshman forward Tim Shelton, whose only field goal came with 50 seconds remaining. It gave the Aztecs the lead they would not relinquish. 

With about 25 seconds remaining the student section was ready to storm the court. Security did everything they could to hold them back until they could no longer as the clock struck zero, and Aztec fans rushed the court as if they had won the national title.

But the truth is, for us we had. We're going to New York to win two more games and an NIT Championship. And then next year, we'll make the Big Dance.