Knight’s career night propels San Jose State to an 83-76 victory over Grambling State

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Photo credit: @SanJoseStateMBB

By Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose State men’s basketball team had another big game in front of the home crowd at the Provident Credit Union Event Center on Wednesday evening. The Spartans brought their A-game, especially Seneca Knight, who had a career night scoring a career-high 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting and pulling own 8 boards in the Spartans’ 83-76 win over the Tigers.

SJSU’s starting five featured Brae Ivey, Seneca Knight, Craig LeCesne, Christian Anigwe and Eduardo Lane. The Spartans won the tip and the game versus Grambling State went underway.

It was a tie game 7-7 at the 15:53 mark of the first half. Knight scored 5 points from the get-go to help the Spartans stay on the top of their game. Well, at least for parts of the game.

Check out this clip.

SJSU trailed 13-12 at the 11:32 mark of the half. However, Knight was a bright spot for the Spartans. The Lafayette, La. native had a team-high 7 points.

Knight remained a red-hot guard throughout the game, but let’s not forget about the other SJSU players. Zach Chapell made a beautiful dish to LeCesne for the flush. The flush kept the Spartans in the game. The Spartans trailed the Tigers 19-18 with 8:12 left in the half.

SJSU took a 24-22 lead over Grambling State with 6:18 left in the half. Ivey and Trey Smith knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers and then Smith made a deep 3 to help the Spartans’ cause.

Ralph Agee proved he had the moves. Agee made a layup under the basket to lift the Spartans to a 35-34 lead just moments before the end of the half. SJSU took a 35-34 lead to the locker room at the halftime break.

Soon enough, SJSU was back on the court. Knight buried a 3 from downtown and then scored inside the paint to put the Spartans ahead 40-34 at the 18:30 mark of the second half. Knight also showed some range, which was a great thing, and recorded double figures for the second straight game.

Grambling State went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead down to 50-48 at the 12:45 mark of the half. But SJSU refused to back down. LeCesne buried a corner 3 and Chappell buried a corner 3 of his own with less than 7 minutes left in the half. The Spartans held onto a 9-point lead, 71-62, at the final media timeout with 4 minutes left in regulation, and went on to beat the Tigers 83-76.

The Spartans host the Portland State Vikings on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 7 pm PST.

Golden 1 Center hosts 4 college basketball teams in doubleheader

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Photo credit: @Golden1Center

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO — Golden 1 Center hosted four college basketball teams in a college doubleheader. It was UC Davis against Sac State in game one, and Fresno State against St. Mary’s in game two.

Game 1
UC Davis Aggies vs. Sac State Hornets

In the first game, it was the Sacramento State Hornets against the UC Davis Aggies. The tip-off was set for 5:30 as the rival schools were set to play at Golden 1 Center.

In the first half, the game felt mostly dominated by the Sacramento State Hornets. The Hornets, led by Patton were able to put up 29 points to the Aggies’ 23 points. Patton had 11 points followed by Esposito, who had 10 points on 4-6 shooting.

For the Aggies, they were led by Neufeld, who had 10 points followed by Koehler, who finished the half with 5 points. The game seemed to be in the Hornets control for much of the first half. Taking a lead in the early minutes and not giving it up. In the second half, the Aggies would need to knock down more of their open looks to have a chance at winning.

In the second half, it would prove to be more of the same. The Aggies were unable to keep pace with the Sac State Hornets. The Hornets went on to defeat the Aggies by a final of 61-51. Leading the way in victory was Patton who finished the game with 17 points. He was followed by teammate Esposito, who finished the night with 12 points. In defeat, the Aggies were held to 51 points. The Aggies’ leading scorer for the game was Neufeld, who managed to drop 19 points in the losing effort.

The Hornets improved to 3-0 on the season and the Aggies dropped to 2-4. The next Hornets game is on Saturday the 23rd against Pepperdine. The Aggie’s next game is on Saturday the 23rd against Portland.

Game 2
Fresno Bulldogs vs. St. Mary’s Gaels

In the second game of the doubleheader, it was Fresno State against St. Mary’s College. The tip-off was set for 8 PM PST as the two schools were ready to face off at Golden 1 Center.

In the first half, it was a very competitive matchup. Both schools came out looking to make a statement on the big stage. St. Mary’s led by Jordan Ford was able to gain the lead before the teams broke for the half. Ford put up 15 points for the Gaels trailed by teammate Malik Fitts with 8 points. St. Mary’s led 33-27 going into halftime. Leading the way for the trailing Fresno Bulldogs was Jarred Hyder with 15 points.

In the second half, both teams were looking to create some separation between them and go home with the win. As the game stood coming back from half, 33-27 St. Mary’s on top, it was really anyone’s game. St. Mary’s managed to pull ahead out of the gate in the second half. With 16:11 left in the game, the score was 42-30 St. Mary’s. From that point on the story would write itself. Fresno State tried to put together runs in the second half, and they did. However, nothing was sustained long enough to take the lead. St. Mary’s would keep about a 10-point lead the rest of the game and go onto win 68-58 over Fresno State. Leading the way for St. Mary’s was Ford with 24 points. Following him were Krebs and Fitts with 14 and 13, respectively. In the losing effort, Fresno State was led by Jarred Hyder who had 20 points. Another notable scorer for Fresno was Grimes with 8 points.

St. Mary’s improves to 4-1 on the season and Fresno State drops to 2-3.

Up Next
St. Mary’s next game is on November 23 at 5 PM PST vs. Lehigh, while Fresno State’s next game is on November 30th against Cal State Northridge at 3 PM PST.

Roadrunners make Barracuda look like Wild E. Coyote in 8-2 thrashing

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By Marko Ukalovic

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The Tucson Roadrunners may have had revenge on their mind as their special teams came out in full force for the Pacific Division leaders as they reversed their fortunes with seven unanswered goals in a 8-2 route of the San Jose Barracuda on Wednesday evening at SAP Center.

After being humiliated last Saturday night 7-1, Tucson has now won six out of their last seven games. However, San Jose has done the opposite, losing seven out of their last eight games.

San Jose (5-9-0-1) drew first blood 69 seconds to start the game. Alex True led a rush out to Noah Gregor, who skated down the right slot. Gregor then fed a cross-ice pass over to a wide-open Evan Weinger, who snapped home a one-timer past Roadrunners goalie Eric Comrie for his fourth goal of the season.

Tucson (12-4-0-0) scored the equalizer while San Jose was on the power play. Hudson Fasching connected with Beau Bennett and he beat ‘Cuda goalie Josef Korenar with a shot for a short-handed goal. Bennett’s second goal of the season came at the 8:03 mark.

The Roadrunners gained their first lead of the night right at the end of the opening frame. Bennett returned the favor this time feeding Nick Merkley, who beat Korenar for his second goal of the season with just nine seconds left before the intermission.

It was a back-breaking goal the ‘Cuda would not recover from as the Roadrunners took over the game in the second period.

“We just didn’t show up in any facet of the game,” said ‘Cuda captain John McCarthy. “PK was bad, PP was bad, 5-on-5 was bad. It’s disappointing cause the game before we show up and have four lines going. It’s a huge letdown to come out with an effort like that.”

Tucson’s power play gave them a two-goal lead early in the middle frame. Kyle Capobianco fed a pass from the point to the left over to Brayden Burke who delayed before lasering a wrist shot top-shelf past Korenar for his for his sixth goal of the season at the 4:50 mark. Bennett received the secondary assist to give him a three-point night.

The ‘Cuda were burnt a second consecutive time for going into the sin-bin. Lane Pedersen’s shot attempt from the point deflected off a ‘Cuda defender’s skate that caromed right over to Michael Bunting as he caught Korenar out of position for an easy tap in. Bunting’s third goal of the season came at the 15:48 mark.

Then before Bunting’s goal could be announced, Tucson struck again 17 seconds later. Fasching centered a pass over to Tyler Steenbergen, who also ended the night with a three-point night (three assists), whose shot was initially saved by Korenar. However, the rebound trickled out in front of the crease where Nate Schnarr was there to clean up the rebound for his first professional career goal at the 17:05 mark.

That goal chased Korenar out of the game as he was replaced by backup goaltender Andrew Shortridge to start the third period by ‘Cuda head coach Roy Sommer.

“If you were to grade these guys from one to five, they were all fours the other night. Tonight, I don’t think there was anybody that was just average,” said Sommer.

Tucson didn’t let up in the third period as they kept pouring it on. Fasching scored his second goal of the night when Steenbergen centered a pass from just below the faceoff circle. Fasching snapped a wrist shot top-shelf into the upper right corner for his fourth goal of the season at the 2:11 mark.

Jon Martin scored his second goal against his former team and fifth of the season after receiving a wrap-around pass from behind the net from Jeremy Gregoire and Martin punched home the puck at the 10:03 mark.

San Jose ended the seven unanswered goals draught late in the third period when Nick Meloche led a 3-on-1 odd man rush into the Tucson zone. He fed a pass over to the Maxim Letunov at the left slot and the Russian forward fired a wrist shot top-shelf for his fifth goal of the season at the 14:48 mark.

Jordan Gross completed the scoring for Tucscon when Steenbergen fed him a pass at the right slot from behind the net and he rifled a wrist shot past Shortridge for third goal of the season at the 17:55 mark.

“You know against a team that leads the division you should be scared to play against them,” said Sommer. “And we weren’t. They were desperate and we were just watching (them on the ice).”

Comrie had a light night making 18 saves on 20 shots in earning his third victory of the season and remains undefeated at 3-0-0. Korenar was on the losing end of the blowout making 16 saves on 21 shots. Shortridge made seven saves on 10 shots in mop-up duty.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 0/2 on the power play. Tucscon was 2/4.

‘Cuda defenseman received a game misconduct penalty with under six minute remaining in the game after the teams skirmished near the Tucson bench.

The San Jose Sharks recalled forward Antti Suomela on Tuesday for the first time since last December. He had a three-game point streak going before being recalled.

Joachim Blichfeld, who went scoreless in the game, leads the ‘Cuda in goals (6), points (10) and power play goals (3).

The announced attendance was 2,713.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda continue their four-game homestand as they host the Colorado Eagle on Friday, November 22 at 7:00 pm at SAP Center. Fans are encouraged to bring a stuffed animal with them to the game to participate in the annual Teddy Bear Toss Night.

Mavericks trounce the Warriors 142-94

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By Jerry Feitelberg

The Dallas Mavericks overpowered the short-handed Warriors 142-94 Wednesday night in Dallas. The Warriors, down to eight healthy players, were not able to handle the Mavericks. They could not stop the Mavs’ offense, and they had trouble putting the ball in the basket while on offense.

The Mavs’ were led by the second-year star, Luka Doncic. Doncic outscored the W’s 22-16 in the first period. The Mavs finished the quarter leading 44-26. The game was over for all intents and purposes. The Mavs continued the onslaught in the second quarter and finished the first half with a 38-point advantage 74-36. The W’s were done, but they still had to play the second half.

Dallas did not let up. They won the second half 68-56 to hand the Warriors their worst loss since a playoff game in the 1973 season. The Warriors dropped to 3-13 while Dallas Improved to 9-5.

Game Notes- Luka Doncic led his team with 35 points. He had 10 rebounds and 11 assists for his second straight triple-double and seventh of the young season. He had help from Kristaps Porzingis with 14 points and 10 boards. Tim Hardaway, Jr had 20, and Jalen Brunson, a former teammate of Omari Spellman and Eric Paschall at Villanova, finished the night with 15 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. The Mavs shot 57% from the floor and made 22 threes in 38 tries.

The Warriors were led by Eric Paschall’s 22 points and 7 rebounds. Ky Bowman had 16. Alec Burks, Omari Spellman, Marquis Chriss, and Kordan Poole all had 11 in a losing effort. All eight of the players Steve Kerr sent into the game were with the team last year. Draymond Green was not available due to soreness in his right heel. The W’s shot 39% from the floor, and they made 7 threes in 27 attempts.

The Warriors’ head coach, Steve Kerr, speaking about the devastating drubbing, said to “flush it down the toilet.” The Warriors are off on Thursday. They resume play Friday night in Salt Lake City against the Utah Jazz.

 

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: After snapping 6-game skid, Barracuda look to start winning steak

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On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 Marko, you mentioned in your last column, head coach Roy Sommer like most coaches will usually take away some privileges from the players when a team goes bad, the Cuda had a six-game losing streak going into Saturday’s night’s game and whatever the motivation was it worked.

#2 The Barracuda came out firing on all cylinders against the visiting Tucson Roadrunners and won it on a laugher 7-1 to snap the losing streak.

#3 The 408 jerseys were gold and had a City of San Jose emblem on the front of the sweater and they looked like a different team and came out firing from the start of the game.

#4 Sommer said after the game that the Barracuda played all 60 minutes from start to finish an impressive effort.

#5 Tonight, the Barracuda are at SAP Center to face off against the Roadrunners again. Do you see them having that same drive in this one or will the Roadrunners be fired up after their Saturday humiliation?

Marko does the Barracuda podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Len Shapiro: Oilers pile on for 3-goal 1st period as Sharks’ win streak snaps at 6

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On the Sharks podcast with Len:

#1 Len, the Sharks just completely melted down early in this game and never had any gumption to get back into it.

#2 Talk about the Oilers’ offense, they attacked in the first period with the first three goals. Sounds like they had a game plan and maybe the advantage was they just saw the Sharks last Tuesday.

#3 The Oilers got some scoring help from Connor McDavid, Markus Granlund, Jujhar Khaira, Zack Kassian, James Neal, for the 5-2 win at SAP Center.

#4 Oilers goaltender Mikko Koskinen allowed two Sharks goals, but otherwise stopped and saved enough shots to keep the Sharks out of it..

#5 The Sharks play in Las Vegas next at the T-Mobile Arena against the Vegas Golden Knights, a team that always gives the Sharks fits.

Len does the Sharks podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sharks’ Six-Game Win Streak Snapped, Oilers Top San Jose 5-2

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By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks six-game win streak was snapped Tuesday night, and done so in emphatic fashion by the Pacific Division leaders. The Edmonton Oilers came in to the SAP Center and outclassed the Sharks in almost every aspect of the game, rolling to a 5-2 victory and gaining a bit of revenge for a defeat against the Sharks in San Jose last Tuesday.

Mikael Granlund scored his first goal as an Oiler, Connor McDavid scored and racked up two assists and Leon Draisaitl added to his league-leading 44 points with an apple Kevin Labanc and Barclay Goodrow scored for the Sharks, who failed to move into a winning record for the first time all season.

Granlund put the Sharks on their heels early when he scored on a wrister just 3:34 into the first period, and just under eight minutes in Kassian picked up his eighth goal of a year where he has the greatest job in hockey on a line with McDavid and Draisaitl. McDavid Assisted on the play.

Kevin Labanc continued his strong stretch of play, picking up his fourth point over the last two games. He beat Oilers goalie Mikko Koskinen 1:24 after Kassian’s marker to pull the Sharks within one. Logan Couture and Evander Kane assisted on the goal.

The Sharks peppered Koskinen in the first, putting 18 pucks on the keeper, but couldn’t crack the Oilers 1B option in net. Add in a Jujhar Khaira goal with 15 seconds left in the period and the Sharks hole to climb out of seemed pretty deep.

They largely weathered the storm of the 2nd until a Oilers powper play with just under three minutes left in the middle stanza. James Neal continued his resurgence, tipping a puck through Martin Jones for a 4-1 Oilers lead with McDavid picking up his 28th assist of the year. McDavid would add his 15th goal of the year 6:34 into the third.

Barclay Goodrow continued his strong season, scoring his 6th goal of the year with 10:17 left in regulation. He’s now one goal away from matching a career-high in seven, a feat he accomplished twice in his career including doing it in 47 games in 2017-18. He’s currently played in 22. While he didn’t make the save here, Koskinen did end the night with 33 denials. Though Martin Jones’ save percentage (.828) and goal total don’t look good for this one, he was hardly at fault for the Oilers offensive outburst.

The Sharks three-game home stand comes to an end, and the real test on if the team has turned a corner awaits. San Jose heads to Vegas to face the Golden Knights Thursday in the Fortress, with Vegas and San Jose jockeying for sixth place in the Pacific.

Bogi’s Big Night: Kings creep closer to .500, beat the Suns 120-116

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By Morris Phillips

SACRAMENTO — The Suns have come down to earth. And the Kings–playing more deliberate while applying the D–are ascending.

Bogdan Bogdanovic scored a career-best 31 points and the Kings survived a furious, fourth quarter rally from the Suns in a 120-116 victory on Tuesday.

After an 0-5 start–including an embarrasing 29-point loss in Phoenix on opening night–the Kings have won six of eight, and their goal of ending the NBA’s longest playoff drought is back on the table.

With the Warriors, Thunder, Blazers and Spurs in various states of disrepair, Western Conference playoff spots are up for grabs.  Phoenix (last appearance: 2010) and Sacramento (2006) own the lengthiest postseason absences along with the most promise for putting an end to the droughts this season.

The Suns started the season fast with five wins and two one-point losses under the direction of new coach Monty Williams. But DeAndre Ayton’s suspension and some difficult opponents have slowed their momentum. Meanwhile, the Kings have turned it around with defense, and relying on their depth under the tutelage of Luke Walton.

Bogdanovic, getting increased playing time in place of injured point guard De’Aaron Fox, got hot in the second quarter, scoring 18 points as the Kings’ lead swelled to 26. But Phoenix finally responded in a 41-point, fourth quarter that pulled them within 116-113 with 14.2 seconds remaining.

Richaun Holmes and Yogi Ferrell both made a pair of free throws in the final seconds to keep the Kings from an embarrassing outcome.

“It felt like to me that we started to stat-hunt a little bit,” Walton said of the near collapse. “When we continued to run our plays we got wide open everything. When we got stagnant their zone stopped us.”

The Kings limited Phoenix to 26 percent shooting in the first quarter, and the possibility of them holding a fourth, consecutive opponent to less than 100 points seemed doable. They also blocked seven shots, and had seven steals, but this was an important ballgame for both clubs. The Suns’ furious rally, and offensive emergence confirmed that.

“We changed up our defenses a little bit but they hit tough shots after tough shots,” Williams said. “But I just loved the fight of our team.”

“We kind of were ‘OK, we got it,'” Bogdanovich said. “It’s the NBA. You have to be ready to lock in and finish the game.”

Holmes finished with 20 points and a career-best 15 rebounds. Bodganovich hit 7 3-pointers for the first time in his career, but missed the final minutes with a hamstring issue. Cory Joseph dished out 14 assists, also a career-high.

Phoenix’s Aaron Baynes, the journeyman center turned 3-point sensation missed the game with a hip injury. Ricky Rubio was available after missing the previous night’s game in Phoenix against Boston, but couldn’t provide much help. Rubio played just 18 minutes and missed all seven of his shots from the floor.

Devin Booker started slow, drew a technical foul, but finished fast with 30 points to lead the Suns. Kelly Oubre and Mikal Bridges had 20 points each.

Warriors cruise past the Grizzlies 114-95 in Memphis

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By Ana Kieu

The Golden State Warriors looked to snap a 7-game losing skid and they did just that on Tuesday night against the Memphis Grizzlies at the FedEx Forum.

The Warriors’ starting five featured Alec Burks, Draymond Green, Glenn Robinson III, Eric Paschall and Willie Cauley-Stein. The Warriors were ready to rock as they took the floor.

The Warriors’ defense got off to a good start. Draymond Green went out of the group and ran with Robinson III to hammer down an alley-oop to extend the Warriors’ lead to 12-5 with 8:41 left in the first quarter. Moreover, with two blocks Tuesday, Green (583) passed Andris Biedrins (580) for fifth on the Warriors’ all-time blocks list.

Despite the Warriors’ positives, Memphis barely led 30-28 at the end of the first.

But the Warriors stormed back scoring 33 points in the second quarter. The Warriors took a 61-46 lead to the locker room at the end of the first half.

Willie Cauley-Stein made some sweet shots to open the second half. Also, Golden State made some 3-pointers the hard way with slips and falls in the process. In addition, Eric Paschall made a baseline jump for the step back with 8:17 left in the fourth quarter. Paschall, in my opinion, could take Green’s place in the future, but we’ll see what happens. Green reportedly believes Paschall doesn’t know his NBA game yet. Yet, it’s debatable because Paschall has been averaging 16.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

The Warriors’ largest lead of the night occurred in the fourth with 5:44 left in regulation, thanks to Robinson III and Cauley-Stein.

The Warriors scored 31 points in the fourth to put the game out of reach for the Grizzlies. Golden State won by a final score of 114-95. With the win, Golden State is now 3-2, while Memphis falls to 5-9.

Alec Burk led the Warriors with 29 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Glenn Robinson III had 20 points, 2 assists and 1 rebound. Marquese Chriss scored 17 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 blocks. Eric Paschall added 17 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block.

The Warriors meet the Dallas Mavericks at the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas on Wednesday, Nov. 19 at 4:30 pm PST.

Stanford Cardinal Overwhelm the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks 76-55

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By Jerry Feitelberg

STANFORD — The Stanford Cardinal had very little trouble beating the visiting team fro Maryland Eastern Shore. The University, part of the University of Maryland system, is a historically Black college with an enrollment of 2862 students. The college is located in Princess Anne, Maryland.

The Cardinal rushed out to a 14-1 advantage early in the first half. The Hawks’ first three points were free throws. They didn’t score their first basket until 8 minutes were played. Stanford continued to dominate play on both ends of the court. The offense finished the first half with a 30-point lead 46-16. Stanford’s Oscar Da Silva led the Cardinal offense.

In the second half, the young men from Maryland Eastern Shore regrouped and made a run to get back in the game. It was not easy as they were down by thirty points. The Hawks came out and went on a 13-3 run. They were helped by Stanford’s sloppy play early in the second half. The Hawk cut the deficit to 49-29. Stanford righted the ship behind the play of Isaac White and Jaiden Delaire. Stanford led again by thirty 69-39. It was at this point in the game that Stanford’s head coach Jerod Haase inserted players from the bench. The Cardinal won their fifth in a row to win 76-55.

Game Notes: The Cardinal improved to 5-0 while Maryland Eastern Shore remained winless, and their record is now 0-5.

The Cardinal had four players in double figures. They were led bt Jaiden Delaire. Delaire had 21, Oscar da Sila 16, Spencer Jones 12, and Tyrell Terry 10.

The Hawks’ Canaan Bartlet led the team with 10. No other player from Maryland Eastern Shore was in double figures.

Up Next: The Cardinal returns to action Thursday night at Maples Pavilion to face the Team from William and Mary University. The game will start at 7 pm.