SAN DIEGO -- San Diego State coach Steve Fisher thought about giving Winston Shepard a breather just past the midway mark of the second half in a close game against Air Force. It turns out the last thing the sophomore forward needed was a spot on the bench. Shepard scored 14 of his 16 points in the final 7 minutes, 14 seconds and the No. 5 Aztecs bounced back from their first loss since mid-November to beat Air Force 64-56 on Saturday night. Shepard started his hot streak by keying a 9-0 run with a 3-pointer, a slam dunk following a steal by Xavier Thames and two free throws. After the Falcons closed to 54-50 with 2:28 to go, Shepard converted a three-point play and hit two more free throws to give SDSU some breathing room. "I was having a tough night up to that point," Shepard said. "Honestly, I have to thank my teammates, X Thames, coach Fish; they stuck with me and had encouraging words for me. I just wanted to go out there and continue to help my team." Shepard made seven of nine free throws. "With the style of basketball I play, being able to handle the ball, I find myself in the paint a lot," he said. "I was taught a rule when I was young, when you get to the paint, at worst, you have to get to the free throw line. Not only that, a lot of the time tonight I wasnt handling the ball. My teammates were finding me under the basket. I have to credit my teammates with that and once again Id like to thank them for sticking with me and finding me in spots." Said Fisher: "I thought it was time for him to get a break and he made a 3 and then made a rebound or steal and we rode with him for a while and he performed. He did a nice job. "Winston is a very, very smart basketball player," Fisher added, noting that hes getting better at passing and shooting free throws. "He knows how to and has the ability to get to the rim. Hes a good player. Hes a hard guard. He played the next play. Sometimes all of us, Winston in particular, if youre not careful you worry about what just happened and all of sudden something negative happens on the next trip. Hes much, much better on that front, and thats allowed him to grow." Thames and Dwayne Polee II each scored 13 points for SDSU (22-2, 11-1 Mountain West), which had its 20-game winning streak snapped Tuesday night at Wyoming. It was SDSUs first loss since a 69-60 home defeat to Arizona on Nov. 14. Josh Davis had 10 rebounds. Max Yon scored 20 and Kamryn Williams 12 for Air Force (10-14, 4-9). The Falcons leading scorer, Tre Coggins, was held to nine points, nearly seven below his average. "They were really on him," coach Dave Pilipovich said of the Aztecs play on Coggins. "They were there on the catch and they are so long with their extra length and size that he couldnt create a little space to create an advantage there." Coggins had 29 points in a 79-72 home loss to the Aztecs on Jan. 13. "Trey had an off night, so somebody had to step up," Yon said. "So Kam Williams and I took over the scoring a little bit, but it just wasnt our night. "I think we handled their pressure better this time around, but they are long. We did a good job rebounding. But being in this environment, with them at home, is an advantage for them. But we are right there and can play with anybody with the way we battled." With the game tied at 28 four minutes into the second half, Thames made consecutive 3-pointers and Polee had a tip-in and then a slam dunk on an alley-oop pass from Shepard to give the Aztecs a 38-28 lead. Air Force closed to 44-40 on Yons three-point play and a reverse layup by DeLovell Earls sandwiched around a 3-pointer by SDSUs Aqeel Quinn. Shepard then came on strong for SDSU during a 9-0 run that gave the Aztecs a 53-40 lead with 5:20 left. Shepard had a 3-pointer, a slam dunk after a steal and pass by Thames and two free throws. JJ OBrien had a bank shot. San Diego State led 24-23 at halftime after scoring 12 of the final 18 points. Blue Edwards Jersey . Venable and Jeremy Hermida drove in three runs apiece, and the Padres beat the Colorado Rockies 7-2 on Sunday to snap a nine-game losing streak. Ja Morant Jersey . 3 Ohio State. Amedeo Della Valle had 15 points, Marc Loving scored a career-high 13 and the bench provided 38 points as the Buckeyes sprinted past Nebraska 84-53 on Saturday. https://www.cheapgrizzlies.com/924p-john-konchar-jersey-grizzlies.html . Mired in an offensive slump, Lowry - the NBAs leader in taking charges this season - did what he has learned to do best, standing his ground and drawing a crucial offensive foul on the Cavaliers all-star point guard. Fast forward 30 seconds to the Cavs next possession, with the home team still trailing by three, Spencer Hawes - one of the leagues best passing big men - threw an interception, intended for Tyler Zeller and picked off by DeMar DeRozan. Grizzlies Jerseys China . Goins is the early favourite to win the starting job at second base. Pillar is an outsider to secure a role off the bench, which becomes an even more difficult spot to win if the number of back up jobs is reduced by one. That happens if the Blue Jays decide to start the season with an eight man bullpen. Bryant Reeves Jersey . Pretty good hitting, too. Dan Haren pitched six innings and sparked the go-ahead rally with a single, leading Los Angeles to another win over the skidding Atlanta Braves, 4-2 on Tuesday night.5) And what makes that better? (If the aim was to make the most competitive tournament possible, there can be no doubt that Team Canada Two and Team USA Two would be stronger than Little Europe and Young North America, and the event would then have all players competing for their countries. Thats what they love so much about the Olympics, and the fans are no different.)6) Wouldnt that be strange, to have Canada playing against Canada, and USA vs. USA, and what if one of those matchups occurred in the final? (Okay, lets call that strange, but think about it--Canadian fans who want to be constantly reminded that Canada is number one could be twice as proud if Canada came away with both gold and silver medals, and theyd love to watch Canada beat two rivals in separate semi-final games.)7) How different might Team Canada 2016 be from the Sochi Olympic gold medallists? (Lets take a wild guess and say you should expect approximately half a dozen changes. Room must be made up front for Steven Stamkos, Claude Giroux, and Tyler Seguin. Mark Giordano should make it on defence and theres a good possibility that the goalies who back up Carey Price will be new faces.)8) While were at it, what about Team USA? (If six is the over-under, Id go under. The American team at Sochi was much better than it showed in the end, and there would be no reason to make major changes except for the fact the result needs to be different, and new blood might help. Theres plenty of it in an American talent pool that has never been deeper.)9) Should we ridicule the NHL All-Star Game and its 17-12 score? (No, if we havent done so already, we should cease to regard it as a game. Its just time on the ice for some of the NHLs top players at their mid-season social gathering.)10) Can we take a few more days of DeflateGate talk at the Super Bowl? (Much to the NFLs chagrin, it will not stop until the league announces its findings, and that promises to take a month or more. I have a hard time believing any more time is needed for an investigation that the NFL itself said should and would be wrapped up by now.)11) What will be in the leagues report? (Only three conclusions are possible--the Patriots cheated; theres a logical explanation for the deflated footballs; or there is no explanation for the deflated footballs. Findings that are kind to the Patriots would be easy to release right away, and that would clear the air around the Super Bowl. The leagues determination to push the matter aside this week does suggest that the Patriots will be accused of wrongdoing, and will be punished for it.)12) Have the Patriots done themselves any favours by addressing the situation the way they have, in press briefings by Bill Belichick and Tom Brady? (None whatsoever. My belief is that you shouldnt take questions if you dont have answers, and they went from having no answers to trying bad answers. Had they been giving testimony in a courtroom, their lawyers would have heard it but wouldnt have seen it, because their heads would have been in their hands. Had owner Robert Kraft spoken first, instead of waiting until yesterday, the Patriots would have delivered the sort of forceful denial that was required. It remains to be seen if it can be supported.)13) Does the NFL have a much easier time dealing with DeflateGate if the Seahawks are the Super Bowl champions? (Its hard to think otherwise. Whether or not the Patriots are found guilty or receive punishment, a Super Bowl win will be celebrated quietly and will seem tainted. Maybe thats not fair and maybe they dont care, but thats the way it is.)14) Can the Patriots play on Sunday as if none of this has happened? (No team prides itself more for its ability to focus on the taask at hand.dddddddddddd The Patriots promise thatll be the case this week, and especially on Sunday. Never mind if theyve done anything wrong, they will deserve a lot of praise for shutting out the distraction if they manage to win. But I dont think they can, and I dont think they will.)15) Who or what will be the difference in the game? (Marshawn Lynch. Give him the ball often enough and hes bound to have a big day against a New England defence that is average at best against the run. The classic matchup of Tom Brady vs. the Legion of Boom figures to be a sawoff. Both are too good to have a bad day. And Lynch is probably too bad to have a good one, apart from his rushing total. Even as it might be seen as a victory for good over evil if Seattle should win, Lynch is bound to even up those sides by grabbing his crotch during the celebration, or long after a 15-yard penalty can be imposed.)16) Some are saying Roger Goodell should recuse himself from the DeflateGate affair because of his close, personal relationship with Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Should he? (Yes, it would probably be a good idea, but you start to wonder what Goodell does to earn his annual salary of $40 million when investigations are conducted externally and rulings are constantly challenged and often changed on appeal. What remains of his power is needed and used to keep him in office.)17) Would it be a good idea, as new baseball commissioner Rob Manfred suggests, to ban the radical shifting of fielders? (Anything to boost offence is worth a listen, but in the case of defensive strategy that gobbles up ground balls that would otherwise be hits, the way to produce more hits is to convince batters to combat the shift by bunting or stroking pitches to wide-open, vacated spaces. But they refuse, so much so that you have to believe theyd rather make a hard out than get on base with a soft single……or well-placed double.)18) Are we to believe that the 2015 MLB season can proceed smoothly for the Baltimore Orioles and the Toronto Blue Jays, given the fallout from the Dan Duquette-Paul Beeston affair? (The Jays can claim it is business as usual for them, with Beeston still at the helm, a new contract and retirement plan in place. The Orioles are left with a general manager who spent three months trying to wiggle free and land a promotion in Toronto, and during that time, he did precious little to address personnel issues that threaten to weaken the Os significantly. Its not Duquettes fault that the matter dragged on so long, but he needs to put it behind him and his team, and that wont be easy.19) Are you longing to watch "real" hockey after sitting through or ignoring the NHL All-Star Game, and if so, would you like to know where to find the best of it? (I didnt watch what happened in Columbus. The games to keep an eye on as the NHL schedule resumes are ones involving the Chicago Blackhawks. They have a six-game road trip that starts tomorrow in Los Angeles and also takes them to Anaheim, San Jose, Minnesota, Winnipeg and St. Louis. A good trip could send the Hawks to the top of the Central Division, where I believe they belong, but if they struggle as the schedule suggests is possible, they could return home as a wild-card team, trailing Winnipeg. Important games in the West, and each and every one should be intense.)20) What was the score of the Pro Bowl? (Im 100 per cent serious when I tell you that I sit here to write this on Tuesday morning and I do not know the answer to this question. I didnt watch the Pro Bowl either, I havent read about it, and I dont know which side won. I almost said "which conference". All I know is not to say that anymore.) ' ' '