Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — San Jose State men’s basketball was still seeking its first conference win of the season and the Air Force Falcons made it difficult, despite the home advantage inside the Event Center Saturday evening.

Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau went with a starting lineup, which featured the likes of Noah Baumann, Seneca Knight, Craig LeCesne, Ashtin Chastain, and Michael Steadman.

SJSU got off to a fast start to open the scoring in the first half. The Spartans went on a 8-0 run in the opening 3:44, which was eventually snapped by the Falcons’ A.J. Walker, who made a layup at the 14:40 mark of the first.

Air Force climbed its way back into the game, but SJSU maintained the lead, whether it was big or small. Steadman was being Steady Steadman and scored 10 points early on, which helped him record his 15th game of the season where he entered the double figure scoring territory.

SJSU continued to hold a 9-point lead, 25-16, with 3:13 left in the half. Baumann also helped the Spartans extend their lead to 28-16 with his second 3-pointer of the game late in the half.

SJSU achieved its first halftime lead, 31-19, in conference play so far this season.

Unlike the first half, the second half was all Air Force in the early stages. Sid Tomes hit a 3 just 46 seconds in, Lavelle Scottie followed up with a fastbreak layup, and then Tomes was at it again by knocking down a jumper.

Both teams exchanged points throughout the half. A notable Spartan moment was when Steadman amazed the home crowd again. Steadman used the high glass to beat the buzzer with 5:43 left in the half.

As the clock continued to run and pause, SJSU realized that they had to do something to win or at least even the score. It was a down-to-the-wire type of game, and at the final media timeout, Air Force led 51-48, with 3:38 left in the half. The Spartans continued to trail by 3, then the Falcons made it a 5-point game with 1:07 left. Steadman hit a 3 to pull the Spartans within 2 with 42 seconds left.

Sure, Air Force extended its lead to 56-53, as Chris Joyce made a free throw with four seconds left. Then, SJSU changed the game, thanks to Brae Ivey, who hit a 3 right after Joyce’s free throw. The game was tied 56-56 at the end of the half.

The game went into overtime, which allowed SJSU to breathe a sigh of relief. Though, SJSU still had work to do, so they were unable to look at overtime with a grain of salt.

SJSU wasted absolutely no time in overtime. Ivey started things off with a pair of free throws, Baumann hit a 3, and Steadman added a free throw. The Spartans led 62-58 with 2:38 left in overtime.

Air Force used back-to-back 3s by Caleb Morris and Chris Joyce to take their first lead, 64-63, in overtime with 54 seconds left. AJ Walker made it a 1-point game with a fastbreak free throw with 30 seconds left. Then, SJSU tied the game 65-65, thanks to Ivey’s layup, and forced a double overtime.

Air Force jumped out to a 68-65 lead early in the double overtime, as Morris hit a 3 just 16 seconds in. The Falcons took a 70-66 lead on Ryan Swan’s layup; but the Spartans made it a 1-point game, thanks to Ivey’s 3. Knight added a layup to help the Spartans get ahead 71-70, but the Falcons stunned the home crowd when Joyce hit a late 3 to get back on top 73-71.

SJSU (3-16, 0-7 MW) lost to Air Force (9-11, 4-4 MW) by a final score of 73-71 in double overtime.

SJSU heads to Logan, Utah to take on the Utah State Aggies next Wednesday at 6:00 pm PT.