San Diego State escaped by a hair’s breadth Wednesday, denying Air Force 77-76 in overtime with a last-gasp layup.
Wayne McKinney III, with SDSU down by one, had 4.4 seconds to make a play. Off a pass from Taj DeGourville, the Coronado High alum went end to end. dodging defenders as he sped to the basket and put up his shot as time expired.
The Aztecs had just watched as freshman Yoda Oke, with a chance to tie the game, missed his second free throw, only to have Wesley Celichowski beat SDSU to the ball and tip it in to give Air Force a 76-75 lead.
.@Waynemckinn3y is going the distance! He's going for speed! #GoAztecs pic.twitter.com/K14BwKk2Ny
— San Diego State Men's Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 23, 2025San Diego State (12-5, 5-3 Mountain West) barely avoided dropping its second conference game in a row and to an Air Force (3-16, 0-8 MW) squad that had lost eight in row.
The Aztecs also beat the Falcons by almost 30 just two weeks ago at Viejas Arena.
“We stole it at the end and we’re grateful for that,” head coach Brian Dutcher told San Diego Sports 760.
AIR FORCE TAKES THE LEAD IN THE FINAL MOMENTS! ?THIS GAME IS WILD @AF_MBB pic.twitter.com/gC0K24cn3X
— CBS Sports College Basketball ? (@CBSSportsCBB) January 23, 2025It came down to that because Air Force overcame a 10-point deficit – and then built a four-point lead, 66-62 – with just over three minutes remaining.
DeGourville though made a jumper to pull SDSU back within two and Miles Byrd, with 2:10 on the clock, hit two free throws to tie it up.
The Aztecs at that point already had lost Nick Boyd, who fouled out, and with just under a minute to go Byrd had to take a seat after being called for his fifth foul.
WHAT A BLOCK FROM MILES BYRD! @Aztec_MBB gets the stop and takes the lead! pic.twitter.com/Hix3oqWveg
— CBS Sports College Basketball ? (@CBSSportsCBB) January 23, 2025DeGourville gave SDSU a brief lead, 68-66, but Air Force’s Kyle Marshall had a layup with 49 seconds left. He could have put the Falcons ahead, but missed the free throw. McKinney and DeGourville had late chances but missed, leaving the game at 68 at the end of regulation.
But McKinney had taken charge in the second half, scoring 14 on the way to a team-leading 18. San Diego State turned to him again in OT.
He told Sports 760 that his game winner was “picture perfect,” crediting DeGourville for his pass and Jared Coleman-Jones for setting a screen.
JCJ with the reverse slam!?: @CBSSportsCBB pic.twitter.com/54s6y31s5k
— San Diego State Men's Basketball (@Aztec_MBB) January 23, 2025“That’s as good as you could do with that amount of time left,” Dutcher said.
But Air Force showed no quit despite their losing streak and SDSU’s reputation.
“They gave us their best punch,” McKinney said. “It was a good fight for them.”
Coleman-Jones finished with 14 points and DeGourville added 11. Celichowski scored 22 points for Air Force.
San Diego State remains on the road Saturday, facing Nevada (11-8, 3-5 MW) in a 7 p.m. contest.
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