Thames, Tapley lead No. 18 SDSU over NAIA school Point Loma, 76-49

SAN DIEGO – Xavier Thames scored 17 points and Chase Tapley added 15 as No. 18 San Diego State beat Point Loma Nazarene 76-49 Tuesday night, the Aztecs' ninth straight victory since losing the season opener to No. 3 Syracuse.

The Aztecs (9-1) did just fine without leading scorer Jamaal Franklin, who sat out with a back injury.

The Aztecs made it a clean sweep of San Diego-area schools. They've also beaten San Diego, San Diego Christian and, in exhibition games, Cal State San Marcos and UC San Diego.

San Diego State now heads to Hawaii for the Diamond Head Classic. Their first game is against San Francisco on Saturday.

The game was considered an exhibition for Point Loma, an NAIA school. Taylor Wetherell led the Sea Lions with 10 points.

Already leading by 15, the Aztecs scored eight points in 1:06 to extend the lead to 69-46 with 4:08 to go. Thames and Tapley had consecutive 3-pointers and Tapley stole the ball and fed James Johnson for a dunk. Johnson, a transfer from Virginia, was making his Aztecs debut.

The Aztecs let the Sea Lions hang around for most of the first half and lead only 35-30 at halftime.

San Diego State finally got a double-digit lead when Tapley hit 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to make it 45-33 with 15:51 to play.

San Diego State opened with a 9-0 run, capped by two free throws by Tapley after Point Loma coach Bill Carr was whistled for a technical for complaining about a foul.

That seemed to inspire the Sea Lions, who answered with a 7-0 run, including a layup and 3-pointer by Oivind Lundestad.