HONOLULU — Zylan Cheatham had 16 points and 11 rebounds to help San Diego State beat San Francisco 62-48 on Sunday night for the Diamond Head Classic championship.
San Diego State (8-4) hit nine 3-poiners against the Dons to set a tournament record with 29 makes over three games.
San Francisco got within two points — for the fourth time in the second half — with 11:46 remaining but the Dons couldn’t get any closer the rest of the way. SDSU’s Jeremy Hemsley hit a 3-pointer with 4:19 left for a 10-point lead.
Hemsley, who entered averaging 16.6 points in his sophomore season, picked up his fourth foul with 18:49 left in the second half and finished with 12 points. Malik Pope missed his second straight game for the Aztecs due to a knee injury suffered in the quarterfinals.
The Aztecs led 32-28 at halftime after shooting 50 percent. Charles Minlend kept USF close by making three 3-pointers and scoring 13 points.
Minlend finished with 18 points for San Francisco (10-3). The Dons, who entered ranked fifth nationally at 42.7 percent from 3-point range, made just 4 of 20 from distance.
ILLINOIS ST. 68, TULSA 56
Third place game
HONOLULU — Paris Lee scored 18 points, Deontae Hawkins added 16 and Illinois State cruised past Tulsa 68-56 on Sunday for third place in the Diamond Head Classic.
Illinois State (8-4) opened the game on a 16-0 run and Tulsa (6-6) didn’t get on the board until freshman Joseph Battle hit a 3-pointer at the 13:19 mark. The Golden Hurricane’s were just one for their first 11 shots from the field.
Pat Birt made Tulsa’s second basket — also a 3 — with 9:39 left and the Golden Hurricane’s trailed 23-7. Their third make was also from behind the arc but Illinois State answered with a 3 for an 18-point lead and the Redbirds led by double figures until the final minutes of the game.
The Redbirds led by as many as 20 points in the first half and had a 16-point advantage at the break.
Junior Etou made 13 of 14 free-throw attempts and scored a career-high 22 points for Tulsa, which missed its first eight field-goal attempts of the second half. The Golden Hurricane’s were just 14-of-52 shooting (26.9 percent) and turned it over 18 times.
UTAH 74, STEPHEN F AUSTIN 66
Fifth place game
HONOLULU — David Collette scored 17 points on 8-of-8 shooting as Utah defeated Stephen F. Austin 74-66 to claim fifth place in the Diamond Head Classic on Sunday.
JoJo Zamora and Devon Daniels had 16 each and Lorenzo Bonam added 12 for the Utes (9-3), who never trailed and shot 58.5 percent (24 of 41) from the field.
Utah scored 30 points off of 23 turnovers by the Lumberjacks (5-7).
Gabe Bealer’s 3-pointer from the right corner off an assist from Collette gave Utah its largest lead at 49-35 and capped a 10-2 run with 12:26 left to play.
Stephen F. Austin got as close as 55-51 following a pair of free throws by Chase Winchester with 5:13 remaining.
Leon Gilmore III had 13 points, Ty Charles 11 and Ivan Canete 10 for the Lumberjacks.
It was just the second meeting between the schools and the first since Utah beat Stephen F. Austin 57-50 in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.
HAWAII 60, SOUTHERN MISS 46
Seventh place game
HONOLULU — Jack Purchase made five 3-pointers and scored 17 points, and Hawaii snapped a four-game losing streak with a 60-46 victory over Southern Mississippi in the seventh-place game of the Diamond Head Classic on Sunday.
Hawaii went on a 10-0 run to stretch its lead to 21 points midway through the second half as Southern Miss went scoreless for five-plus minutes.
Gibson Johnson added 10 points for Hawaii (5-7), which made 10 shots from distance.
Hawaii’s 10-2 spurt late in the first half was capped by Purchase’s third 3-pointer for a 30-20 lead. He scored 11 points in the half as Hawaii held a 32-22 advantage after making 7 of 15 3s.
Southern Miss was held to 7-of-23 shooting (30 percent) in the first half and finished at 32.7 percent.
Michael Ramey hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points for Southern Miss (3-9), which has lost eight in a row.
