BOISE, Idaho -- With his fifth-ranked team trailing by two points in the final seconds, San Diego State coach Steve Fisher was all but certain senior point guard Xavier Thames was going to take the final shot for the Aztecs on Wednesday night. But Thames surprised his coach -- and most of the 9,602 in attendance -- when he whipped a pass to Dwayne Polee II, who drained a three-pointer with four seconds left to give the Aztecs an improbable come-from-behind 67-65 victory that extended their winning streak to 19 games. "It was like the Red Sea parted," Polee said. "I wasnt surprised. X is a real unselfish player, and if there was one person open, he was going to find them." Thames finished with 23 points for San Diego State (20-1, 9-0 Mountain West), but it was his steal at midcourt in the final minute and his second assist of the game that saved the Aztecs, who trailed by 14 points in the second half. "What can you say about Xavier Thames?" Fisher asked. "You cant tell me that hes not playing as well as anyone in America right now." Thames said he was very close to taking a shot that would have tied the score. But at the very last second, he changed his mind. "I had a pretty decent look, but I saw DP out of the corner of my eye," Thames said. "I was going to shoot a floater but (Ryan) Watkins was going to contest it. Then I saw (Anthony) Drmic sink down. It was on the tip of my fingers (to shoot). It was pretty close." Close is the typical result when the Aztecs and Broncos (15-8, 5-5) play. The past six meetings between the schools have been decided by six or fewer points. San Diego State eliminated Boise State from the past two conference tournaments and won 69-66 last month in San Diego. "Theyre a good matchup for us, and were a good matchup for them," Thames said. "We know were always going to get a great game for them." Mikey Thompson led the Broncos with 16 points and Thomas Bropleh and Derrick Marks both added 15. "I just feel awful for these guys right now," Boise State coach Leon Rice said. "They are giving everything they have. We just havent finished." Boise State led the final 18 minutes of the first half and the first 15 of the second before a scoring drought allowed the Aztecs to rally. After Bropleh banked in a three-pointer to give the Broncos a 57-43 lead with 13:37 to play, Boise State only made one field goal in the next 11 minutes and the lead disappeared when Thames scored his seventh consecutive point to give his team a 61-59 lead with four minutes to play. Boise State finally got on track, getting two free throws and a layup from Thompson and a basket from Marks to retake the lead at 65-62. Thames made a steal in the final minute and hit two free throws after being fouled, and after Marks missed a jumper, the Aztecs were in position for the biggest play of the game. "That was a tough, gutty character-type game for us," Fisher said. "We stayed with it and found a way to win." Thames said there was some motivation to keep the winning streak going. With its meteoric rise to No. 5 in the poll, the Aztecs expect to get every teams best shot the rest of the way. "We talked at halftime about that," he said. "We said, You know they are going to rush the court if they win. We didnt want that to happen." Josh Davis had 10 points for San Diego State, which won despite turning the ball over 15 times and allowing Boise State to shoot 51 per cent from the field and make eight three-pointers. "They just kept hitting shot after shot," said Polee, who finished with nine points and was 1 for 1 on three-point attempts. "Everything they threw up was going in. We just had to buckle up." The win was the 10th straight win away from home for San Diego State and its ninth Eric Lindros Flyers Jersey . (AP) -- The head of the committee that developed Major League Baseballs plan to expand instant replay says he is optimistic the system will be in place this season, even though owners and unions for players and umpires have yet to approve. Jakub Voracek Jersey . A broadcast source said the deal is for five years. The agreement calls for a minimum of 17 regular-season games as well as the East and West Division finals being broadcast annually on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNEWS. http://www.hockeyflyersauthentic.com/oskar-lindblom-jersey/. -- Phil Mickelson will be watching the final two rounds of the Masters from home for the first time in 17 years. Sean Couturier Flyers Jersey . A spokeswoman for the NLRB says its "a very incremental move" and does not necessarily indicate the board is close to a finding in the case. NFL owners filed an unfair labour charge against the players union in February, arguing that the union was not negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement in good faith. Nolan Patrick Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla.MINNEAPOLIS -- Joe Mauer drove in two runs, including the go-ahead double in the eighth inning, to push the Minnesota Twins past the Chicago White Sox 4-2 Thursday night. After rain delayed the first pitch by 2 hours and 6 minutes, the Twins stopped their season-high, five-game losing streak. Mauer, in the middle of the worst year of his six-time All-Star career, also hit a tying single in the third. After 18 games without an RBI, Mauer has three in three days. With Jake Petricka (0-2) pitching with runners at the corners with no outs, Mauer hooked a drive down the left-field line. Kurt Suzuki tacked on a sacrifice fly. Glen Perkins tossed a scoreless ninth for his 18th save in 20 tries, after a bad back kept him from pitching Wednesday in Boston. Casey Fien (4-4), who subbed as the closer Wednesday and gave up two homers in the 10th inning in a 2-1 loss to the Red Sox, returned to the eighth-inning role and earned the victory that really belonged to Yohan Pino. Pino at age 30 became the oldest Twins player to make his major league debut, holding the White Sox to two runs in seven innings. Josh Willinghams home run in the second, the first time in 10 starts that Jose Quintana surrendered a long ball, gave Pino a brief lead. But after a walk by Gordon Beckham loaded the bases in the third, Connor Gillaspie smacked a two-run single into centre field. Over the last nine games, Twins starters have a 2.41 ERA. Pino struck out seven and allowed five hits and one walk. He signed with the Twins more than 10 years ago, but after reaching Double-A in July 2007 he bounced up and down between the top two levels of the minors over the following six seasons. He pitched for four teams each in Double-A and Triple-A. Traded to Cleveland in August 2009 for Carl Pavano, Pino played for three organizations until rejoining the Twins this year.dddddddddddd When the Twins sent Sam Deduno to the bullpen, Pino was the pick after posting a 9-1 record and 1.92 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 61 innings for Triple-A Rochester. Two of his seven starts were shutouts. Having gained valuable experience in the Venezuelan Winter League, Pino has become good enough at changing speeds and throwing breaking balls for strikes to make up for an average-at-best fastball. Given the length of his journey and the positive impression he has made on the team, the Twins were extra excited to see him take the mound. Pino struck out Jose Abreu the first two times he faced the rookie slugger. Abreu became the third-fastest to reach 20 home runs when he went deep Wednesday against San Francisco in his 58th career game. Quintana has had another solid season for the White Sox, his third, but a lack of assistance has persisted. His average run support, 4.11 per nine innings, is the second-lowest in the American League since his debut in 2012. Winless in four starts this month, Quintana struck out six in seven innings while allowing six hits and a walk. Home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski took a hard foul tip off the bottom of his mask in the fourth. He finished the inning after being checked on by Twins trainer Dave Pruemer but was replaced for the fifth inning by crew chief Mark Wegner. A three-man group was used for the rest of the game. NOTES: Willingham has six homers in 24 games since returning from his rehab assignment for a broken wrist, but he entered the night in a 1-for-19 slide. ... The Twins will send Ricky Nolasco (4-5, 5.66 ERA) to the mound on Friday, and Hector Noesi (2-5, 5.37 ERA) will pitch for the White Sox. ... The White Sox announced their June 10 rainout against Detroit will be made up as part of a day-night doubleheader on Aug. 30. ' ' '