Guard Trey Kell scored 13 points to lead a balanced attack in San Diego State's 76-72 victory over Long Beach State on Monday night at Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, Calif.

Forward Malik Pope scored 12 points for San Diego State (5-3), which also received 11 points from guard Dakarai Allen and 10 points from guard Jeremy Hemsley.

Guard Nick Faust had 20 points and seven rebounds to lead Long Beach State (3-4). Forward Gabe Levin had 12 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard Travis Hammonds also scored 12 points.

San Diego State jumped out to a 12-3 lead over the first six minutes and went up 19-7 on a dunk by forward Skylar Spencer with 11:03 remaining.

Long Beach State cut the deficit to single digits when Faust made a 3-pointer with six seconds to play in the half.

The Aztecs led 40-32 at the break. The 49ers cut the deficit to one when Faust dunked with 13:07 remaining and took a 50-48 lead on a 3-pointer by guard Justin Bibbins at the 9:45 mark.

The teams traded leads over the next few minutes until forward Zylan Cheatham scored with 6:13 remaining to give the Aztecs a lead they would not relinquish.