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ASSOCIATED PRESS
San Diego State forward Zylan Cheatham held the Diamond Head Classic championship trophy after the Aztecs beat San Francisco.
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San Diego State earned redemption in the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic championship game, defeating San Francisco 62-48 on Christmas evening at the Stan Sheriff Center.
The long and athletic Aztecs came into Honolulu at only 5-4 but won three times in four days to make good on their return to the islands four years after coming up just short in the DHC final. They are the first Mountain West team to win it.
“I think the most important thing … we came in here somewhat maligned, and justifiably so,” Aztecs coach Steve Fisher told ESPN postgame. “We had a three-game losing streak. If you’re not careful you begin to doubt yourself a little bit.
“We needed to come in here and not only win, but play well in winning.”
Forward Zylan Cheatham posted a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double en route to tournament MVP honors. Jeremy Hemsley added 12 points and Trey Kell 10.
SDSU (8-4), not known as a prolific 3-point shooting team, set a new tournament record with 29 triples. They went 9-for-27 on Sunday (6-for-14 in the second half) helping make up for the absence of talented big man Malik Pope (knee).
USF (10-3) also tied the previous record of 28 tournament 3-pointers. Sixteen of those came in the first day against Utah; they only hit four against SDSU in 20 attempts and were held without a field goal for the final five minutes. Charles Minlend scored a game-high 18 points for the Dons.
The West Coast Conference team is coached by Kyle Smith, who was a two-time finalist candidate for the Hawaii basketball head job.
SDSU beat USF in the first round of the 2012 field, but lost to Arizona in the final 68-67 when Chase Tapley’s layup was blocked by Nick Johnson at the buzzer.
