It was Senior Night at Viejas Arena, but junior guard Jamaal Franklin and sophomore forward JJ O’Brien didn’t mind stealing the spotlight.

Franklin and O’Brien each scored 12 points, helping the Aztecs to defeat the Air Force Academy Falcons, 58-51.

Senior guard Chase Tapley started off the fireworks with an alley-oop dunk to give the Aztecs a 4-0 lead less than two minutes into the game. The dunk was Tapley’s first since the 2010-11 season.

SDSU never trailed until Air Force took the 18-17 lead with 5:42 left in the first half, courtesy of a 7-0 Falcons run.

The Aztecs then went on a 6-0 run of their own to take a 23-18 lead into halftime.

SDSU continued to hold a slight lead in the second half, but Air Force battled, never letting the Aztecs break away until the Aztecs gained a 14-point lead at 58-44, their largest of the game, with 1:11 left in the game when O’Brien tipped in a missed shot.

The Aztecs are now 21-8 overall and 9-6 in Mountain West Conference play, while the Falcons fall to 16-12 overall and 7-8 in conference play.

SDSU wraps up its final regular-season game at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday at Boise State.

Player of the game

Franklin had a solid game all-round, recording a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds, which were also game-highs.

Statistic of the game

Both teams shot a combined 28.3 percent (15-of-53) from the field in the first half. The Aztecs shot 31 percent (9-for-29), while the Falcons shot 25 percent (6-for-24).

Not in the boxscore

Seniors James Rahon, DeShawn Stephens, Narbeh Ebrahimian, Jeremy Castleberry, Aaron Douglas and Tapley were honored before the start of the game as part of the Senior Night festivities. Each of the six was escorted to center court by his parents where he was given a framed jersey by head coach Steve Fisher.