David J. Olender / Assistant Photo Editor

The San Diego State men’s basketball team must be feeling like a broken record.SDSU keeps getting stuck in the same spot: a tough conference game, the chance to win it at the end and the inevitable missed three-pointer at the buzzer.Fortunately for the Aztecs, they got back on track at just the right time.Finally singing the sweet song of success, SDSU squeaked out an 83-82 victory over Colorado State last night at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo.For the third consecutive game, the Aztecs held the ball with the chance to win or tie on their final possession. The previous two games resulted in three-point losses to BYU and UNLV. But against CSU, junior forward Lorrenzo Wade hit a three-pointer with 20 seconds to play to win the game.”He’s so relaxed, like he’s done that before,” junior center/forward Ryan Amoroso said to XTRA 1360’s Ted Leitner.While SDSU hung on for the victory, they almost got burned from behind the arc for the second straight game. Despite coming in shooting 34 percent from three-point range, the Rams knocked down 14 of 25 shots from downtown. Just three days earlier, UNLV, who is last in the Mountain West Conference at shooting three-pointers, made 10 of 21 against the Aztecs.”On a couple of (CSU’s three-pointers) we did not have very good defense, but on the bulk of them I thought we were there,” head coach Steve Fisher said to Leitner. “They did a good job to create opportunities for threes, and to their credit, they made them.”CSU guard Marcus Walker could not be stopped from the outside. With a team-high 26 points, Walker connected on five-of-seven shots from behind the arc.SDSU, meanwhile, hit just four of 16 three-pointers.The Aztecs (15-6, 5-2 in MWC play) did plenty of scoring in the post, however. They dominated in the middle, scoring 46 points in the paint while outrebounding the Rams 46-26. SDSU also grabbed 16 offensive rebounds that led to 16 second-chance points.Amoroso, who seems to be looking more and more comfortable on the offensive end, did the most damage inside. He led the Aztecs with 23 points and 11 rebounds, his first double-double with SDSU.”Ryan did a great job of battling on the glass,” Fisher said. “He’s big and strong and he used that strength to move people and get the ball.”But Amoroso wasn’t the only one registering double-digit point and rebound totals. Freshman forward Billy White finished with 18 points and 10 boards for his first-career double-double while Wade’s 17 points and 10 rebounds gave him his second in three games. “Billy is growing as an offensive player,” Fisher said. “He’s turning into more than just an offensive rebound and putback guy.”Although a win is a win, the close victory comes against a team that has really struggled. The Rams (6-14, 0-6) have lost seven straight, including an overtime loss to Division III Oklahoma Panhandle State.But Fisher still knows anything can happen on any given day in this conference.”That’s what this league’s about; there’s not a whole lot separating any of us,” he said. “We need to get better as a basketball team, but it sure will feel a whole lot better getting on that plane with a one-point victory rather than a one-point defeat.”