Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose Spartans have lost eight straight games. Their last win (75-63) came on December 21, 2017, in a crosstown matchup against the Santa Clara Broncos. Meanwhile, the Wyoming Cowboys were doing just fine and entered the building with a two-game winning streak. The Cowboys upset Nevada 104-103 on January 24 and Utah State 85-77 on January 20.

Win streak or not, the Spartans were focused on the task at hand. San Jose State isn’t playing for the postseason, as they’ve only won three games so far this season, but they just wanted a win against Wyoming at the Event Center.

The Spartans’ starting lineup consisted of Keith Fisher, Noah Baumann, Jalen James, Ryan Welage and Ashtin Chastain.

The Cowboys got off to a fast start as Justin James hit a jumper and a 3-pointer and Cody Kelly made a layup, but the Spartans got back in the game. Chastain hit a jumper and made a layup and then Welage added a jumper and a three to give SJSU a 9-7 lead at the 17:11 mark of the first half.

Spartans’ Jaycee Hillsman threw down a dunk to make it a one-point game at the 12:01 mark, but the Cowboys quickly responded as Alexander Aka Gorski hit a three just 17 seconds later.

The Cowboys went on a 12-0 run in a span of 2:34 to overwhelm the Spartans, who ended Wyoming’s run after a bit, thanks to pair of free throws from Welage with 8:29 left in the first half.

Things got chippy when Cowboys’ Alan Herndon fell to the floor and appeared to be in a lot of pain. Herndon managed to pick himself up off the floor. The officials handed a foul to Spartans’ Jaycee Hillsman. After that, Austin Mueller entered the game in relief of Herndon.

Both teams exchanged shots late in the first half, but the score was in favor of the Cowboys, who carried a 47-33 lead to the locker room at halftime.

Here are the Spartans’ first half stats: 13-28 FG-FGA (total), 2-6 FG-FGA (3-ptr), 5-6 FT-FTA, 1 offensive rebound, 19 defensive rebounds, 20 total rebounds, 9 PF, 33 TP, 11 A, 13 TO, 1 Stl, 100 Min.

The Spartans got the ball to start the second half. However, the Cowboys struck first on James’ layup just 27 seconds in. And, as you may have expected, the Ryan Welage show came on as the junior forward shot two pairs of free throws and a jumper in a single-handed response to Wyoming.

James, Hillsman and Isaiah Nichols joined the Spartans’ scoring party. Welage then hit a jumper to pull SJSU within six (65-59) with 9:10 left in the second half.

The SJSU cheerleading team continued chanting their “defense” chants, which appeared to help the Spartans get back on track. Aside from the usual Welage show, Keith Fisher got into the limelight with a layup and a jumper to bring SJSU within one (73-72) with 3:17 left.

Welage collected a pass from Fisher and launched a three from the top of the arc to tie the game at 75 apiece with 1:44 left. It was do-or-die for the Spartans, who seemingly maximized their defense in the end.

The Cowboys regained the lead (77-75) on James’ dunk with 5.4 seconds left. Both teams took a timeout. Following Wyoming’s timeout, James made a layup to tie the game at 77 apiece and force overtime.

Hillsman hit a jumper to put the Spartans up 79-77 to start the overtime period. However, the Cowboys immediately responded with a game-tying shot–Louis Adams’ layup–less than a minute later.

The back-and-forth action between the two teams ensued as Welage made a lone free throw, James hit a three, Chastain made a layup, Adams made a pair of free throws and Fisher followed with a pair of free throws.

James made a layup to put the Cowboys back on top (86-84), but the game was far from over. James added a jumper to extend the Cowboys’ lead to 88-84 and then his team took a 30-second timeout with 11.4 seconds left.

Nichols got a foul, which hurt the Spartans as James made a pair of free throws following the malicious incident. Welage hit a jumper with just one second left on the clock, but it was too late. The Spartans dropped a 90-86 decision to the Cowboys in overtime.

Here are the Spartans’ final stats: 30-62 FG-FGA (total), 4-15 FG-FGA (3-ptr), 22-28 FT-FTA, 8 offensive rebounds, 35 defensive rebounds, 43 total rebounds, 24 PF, 86 TP, 20 A, 21 TO, 2 Stls, 225 Min.

Notes
The Spartans’ coaching staff wore sneakers with their suits for today’s Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Week game, a nationwide event to raise awareness and help save lives from cancer.

The first 400 students got free pizza at halftime.

Up Next
The Spartans head to Las Vegas to take on UNLV Wednesday night at 8 pm PT.