Photo courtesy of Spartan Athletics.
By Titus Wilkinson (@TitusWisme)
The Spartans looked to end their three-game losing skid with a win over Air Force on Saturday night.
Heading into this one the Spartan’s record had dipped to 7-9 while Air Force was sporting a record of 7-7.
The first half started off rather close as the teams exchanged buckets with neither being able to pull away.
Their lethal shooting helped San Jose pull away, though, as they shot 62% in the first half while going 5-10 from three. Leading the way in points for the Spartans was Tibet Goerner who had 11 points in the first half along with four rebounds.
Air Force shot at a decent 54% with Ethan Taylor contributing the most as he had ten while Jeffrey Mills racked up four assists in the half.
While Mill’s four assists were good Alvaro Cardenas outdid him with six assists in the first.
Heading into halftime the Spartans had the lead at 46-33.
The second half did not start out well for SJSU as Air Force went on a 9-0 run to start the half cutting their lead to 46-42.
Trey Anderson would break the run with a layup but Air Force continued to hang around.
Then at 3:41 with the score tied Air Force took the lead for the first time in the game off a pair of free throws by Rytis Petraitis.
The teams continued to exchange leads leading up to an insane finish as the game was tied with 1.5 seconds left on the clock.
San Jose State had one last chance to put the game away or it meant overtime as Cardenas would inbound the ball from Air Force’s baseline.
As Cardenas scanned the floor he saw Myron Amey Jr. who had been hot all second half stick out his hand for the pass. Without hesitation, Cardenas flung it to Amey who with a defender draped all over him drained the three-ball ending the game right then and there.
As the players rushed the floor SJSU’s record now improved to 8-9 while Air Force’s fell to 7-8.
Amey ended up being the leader in points on the night with 16 and rebounds as he had nine while Cardenas racked up nine assists. For Air Force Ethan Taylor had the most points with 19.
San Jose State will look to keep the good times rolling in their next game against Fresno State on the road on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

