Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

San Jose State men’s basketball looked to notch their first conference win of the season, but the Wyoming Cowboys sort of gave them a hard time Wednesday night at the Arena-Auditorium.

Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau set a starting lineup, featuring Trey Smith, Noah Baumann, Zach Chappell, Michael Steadman, and Ashtin Chastain.

SJSU won the tip and the conference game went underway in Laramie, Wyo. The Spartans were unable to get off to a good start, which might’ve been a good thing considering the fact that they tend to blow leads, but they opened the game 0-6 from the field, which was downright awful. Wyoming led 7-0 at the first media timeout.

SJSU mustered just four points and trailed 13-4 at the second media timeout. But things slowly came into place as Baumann hit a 3-pointer for the 16th straight game for the Spartans, who went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead 20-14 with 6:45 left in the first half. The Spartans proceeded to cut the lead even more with what became a 10-0 run to cut the lead 20-18 with 4:51 left in the half.

The tables turned when Chastain converted his second free throw to tie the game 22-22 with 1:20 left in the half. The Spartans used a 16-4 run in the final 7:44 to tie the game 24-24 at halftime. Isaiah Nichols recorded excellent minutes off the bench with 14 minutes, 7 points, 3 assists, and no turnovers.

The Spartans held onto a 1-point lead, 28-27, but that changed when the Cowboys’ Justin James wanted a dunk in transition, but ended up making a steal and hitting a 3 to take regain the lead, 30-28, at the 17:46 mark of the second half.

The Cowboys went on a 11-0 run for a 35-28 lead at the 11:37 mark of the half. The Cowboys didn’t stop there as they took advantage of the Spartans, who went cold all of a sudden, and made it a 18-2 run for a 42-30 lead with 8:42 left in the half.

The Spartans got just what the doctor ordered, but it was too little, too late. Both Baumann and Ivey sanked a pair of 3s and SJSU chipped their way back into the lead, but continued to trail 47-38 with 4:40 left in the half. The Spartans (3-15, 0-6 MW) eventually took a 59-46 loss for their ninth consecutive loss. The Cowboys (5-14, 1-5 MW) picked up their first conference win of the season.

SJSU returns home to host the Air Force Falcons this Saturday at 6:00 pm PT.