ANCHORAGE ? San Diego State used a powerful inside game to pull away for a 75-56 victory Friday over Seattle in the semifinals of the Carrs/Safeway Great Alaska Shootout at Sullivan Arena.
Led by 15 points from forward Kyle Spain and 13 points from fellow big man Ryan Amoroso, the Aztecs (4-1) now advance to Saturday's championship contest against upstart Hampton.
Forward Michael Wright led the Redhawks (4-2) with 12 points, but the first-year Division I program could not match the inside strength of SDSU, one of the favorites in this year's Mountain West Conference race.
Amoroso enjoyed a near-perfect shooting night, hitting 4 of 5 from the field ? including his only three-point try ? and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. The 6-foot-8 senior also grabbed five rebounds and tied for game-high honors with three steals. Amoroso's backup, 6-9 junior-college transfer Mehdi Cheriet, was also solid with 11 points (4-6 FG, 2-2 3FG) and three boards in only 11 minutes.
Spain shot 6 of 9 from the field and made all three of his treys, helping the Aztecs to a 50.9 percent shooting effort.
The Redhawks, who got a game-high 10 rebounds from Austen Powers, shot just 35.8 percent from the floor.
Seattle will face regional rival Portland State in the tournament's 3rd/5th-place game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, followed by the title tilt at 8 p.m. AST.
