San Jose State 79, San Diego 68

Nov 23, 2005, 10:54 pm

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -- Demetrius Brown scored a career-high 26

points to lead San Jose State to a 79-68 win over San Diego on

Wednesday, giving the Spartans their best start in five years.

Alex Elam added 15 points for San Jose State, which improved to

3-1 under first-year head coach George Nessman. Since opening the

season with an 88-54 loss to Texas Tech, the Spartans have won

three straight, all by double digits.

Corey Belser scored 18 points and had 10 rebounds for road-weary

San Diego (1-2). The Toreros are in the midst of a four-game road

trip and won't play their first home game until Nov. 30.

San Jose State led comfortably for most of the game but had to

survive a late push from San Diego to earn its third straight

victory, something the Spartans have been unable to do since

winning four straight in December 2003.

A Brown free throw put San Jose State ahead 50-40 midway through

the second half before San Diego made its best run of the game.

Using a full-court press defense and getting three straight baskets

by Nir Cohen, the Toreros pulled within 52-49 on a Belser 3-pointer

with 8:43 remaining, but that was as close as they could get.

The Spartans responded with a quick 7-0 run capped by Julian

Richardson's 3-pointer, then turned to Brown to close the game out.

Brown, San Jose State's leading scorer who red-shirted last

year, was coming off a 23-point performance against Cal Poly-San

Luis Obispo three nights earlier and showed no signs of slowing

down against San Diego. He made a 14-foot jumper with 5:29 to put

the Spartans ahead 61-51 then scored eight of the final 12 points

for San Jose State down the stretch to seal the win.

Richardson finished with 10 points and seven assists for the

Spartans. Matt Misko added 10 points and six rebounds.

Cohen had 12 points for San Diego, while Nick Lewis added 10.

The Spartans took control of the game early and led by as many

as 12 points in the first half. San Jose State shot 51.7 percent

from the floor while San Diego was just 31.3 percent shooting.