Tag: NCAA Basketball

Cal beats UC Davis 72-66 to end their two-game slide

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By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY, Calif. — The growth process for any college basketball team revolves around dealing with prosperity or handling adversity.

But it’s rare that a team experiences both in the same ballgame. While facing UC Davis on Tuesday, the Cal Bears dealt with the extremes.

In a narrow 72-66 victory over the Aggies, the Bears shot the lights out in establishing an 18-point, first half lead only to go cold in the second half allowing UC Davis to briefly take the lead.

Coach Mark Fox took a philosophical approach to his team’s topsy turvy evening, by pointing to the Bears’ determined finish, allowing them to hold off the Aggies in the final minutes.

“I’m glad the game got to that point because it was important for us to play in a close game,” Fox said. “We got more out of the finish of that game than we would have if we had kept a double-figure lead the whole time.”

Fox is the lesson learning business these days in trying to get his young Bears to gather enough moxie to escape the Pac-12’s cellar after finishing last the previous two seasons. With the season seven games old, those lessons are coming quickly.

In the last seven days, Cal’s been buried by No. 1 Duke, outclassed by a physical Texas team, then pushed by the pesky Aggies.

Fifth-year senior Paris Austin knows the deal. With the score tied 54-54 with 5:33 remaining, Austin locked in. His seven points down the stretch helped Cal put UC Davis away.

“It’s about us as players needing to lock in,” Austin said. “In any game, there are times when other teams make runs and people can get discouraged; we just need to stay together, stay motivated, and play through it.”

Matt Bradley led Cal with 19 points, as he did most of his damage in the first half. Grant Anticevich contributed 14 points, and Kareem South added 13.

Ezra’s Manjon had 21 points for UC Davis, and Stefan Gonzales added 15, on five 3-pointers. Leading scorer Matt Neufeld missed seven of his 10 shot attempts and only grabbed two rebounds.

“Guys made plays, played with confidence and played within our system,” coach Jim Les said of  his Aggies. “When we took the fight to them, good things happened.”

The Bears are off until next week for Thanksgiving. They’ll face USF in a rare, Bay Area road game on December 4.

Last-second shot lifts Butler past Cardinal 68-67 for tournament title

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Photo credit: @HOFClassic

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Butler’s Kamar Baldwin didn’t just take over in the final minutes of the Hall of Fame Classic championship, his 18-foot jumper in the closing seconds gave the Bulldogs a 68-67 win over Stanford Tuesday in Kansas City.

It was the Cardinal’s first loss of the season after seven consecutive victories, and their first game this season against a Power Five school.

Baldwin scored six of his 22 points in the final 1 ½ minutes. Bryce Nze scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds, and Bryce Golden added 12 points for the undefeated Bulldogs (7-0).

Stanford (7-1) was led by Tyrell Tyler’s 21 points, followed by Oscar da Silva with 19, Bryce Willis with 12 and Spencer Jones 11.

The Cardinal led 51-48 with six minutes remaining before Butler used a 10-0 run to go up by six. After a Baldwin trey put the Bulldogs up by eight, Stanford used a 9-1 run to tie the game at 62-all at the two-minute mark.

With 41 seconds to play, Baldwin connected on a layup and a jumper, giving the Bulldogs a four-point lead. Stanford responded with a Jones 3-pointer and a dunk by Willis to take a 67-66 lead with 21 seconds to play.

Baldwin hit his game-winner on the next possession.

Stanford made nine 3-pointers, including one by Terry at the first half buzzer that tied the game at 29-all. Butler made six 3’s and converted 12 offensive rebounds into 12 second-chance points. The Cardinal shot 53 percent from the field, but the Bulldogs outrebounded them 31-21.

Butler won despite being without Sean McDermott for much of the game,
McDermott, one of the Bulldogs’ leading scorers, suffered an ankle injury in the first half, but returned in the final minutes.

The Cardinal return home on Sunday, Dec. 1, to host UNC-Wilmington at Maples Pavilion.

Cardinal remain unbeaten after 73-54 win over Oklahoma; Butler is next

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Photo credit: gostanford.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Monday, November 25, 2019

Stanford extended its men’s basketball season-opening winning streak to seven games on Monday, as the Cardinal defeated Oklahoma 73-54 in the first day of the Hall of Fame Classic at Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo.

Freshman Tyrell Terry led Stanford (7-0) with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Spencer Davis was next with 13 points and Bryce Willis finished with 10. Oscar da Silva added nine points while pulling down 11 boards.

Austin Reaves was the Sooners’ top scorer with 17 points, followed by Alondes Williams with 12 points and Brady Manek with 10. Kristian Doolittle led Oklahoma (5-1) with eight rebounds.

The Cardinal opened the game with a 17-0 run and led 37-24 at halftime and never trailed throughout the second half in their first game of the season against a Power Five school. Oklahoma didn’t score until the 14:00 mark of the first half.

A brief 10-0 run pulled the Sooners to within seven midway through the first half, but never got any closer, as Terry had 16 points and nine rebounds in the first 20 minutes.

Although both teams shot 38 percent from the field, Stanford made 10 3-pointers and hit 13 of 19 free throws. The Sooners, meanwhile made four 3’s and struggled at the foul line, making 4 of 13 free throws.

Another factor in the Cardinal’s decisive win was outscoring Oklahoma 15-0 on second-chance points while holding a 51-32 rebounding edge.

On Tuesday, Stanford meets Butler for the Hall of Fame Classic championship.

San Jose State to square off against Oregon State in Las Vegas

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose State men’s basketball team will meet the first of two straight Pac-12 opponents when the Spartans square off with the Oregon State Beavers at 8 pm PT on Wednesday at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The game will air live on FS1.

SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (3-3, 0-0 MW)
PPG: 69.8 | FG%: 41.8 | 3FG%: 27.1 | FT%: 62.1

NOTES: The Spartans will face their second Pac-12 foe of the young season on Wednesday night at the Orleans Arena as part of the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic. SJSU played Arizona on Nov. 14 in Tucson. Guards Seneca Knight (12.7 PPG) and Richard Washington (11.2 PPG) are also getting after it on the glass, combing for 12.5 rebounds per game. Guard Zach Chappell is averaging 13.7 PPG off the bench over SJSU’s lasts three contests.

OREGON STATE BEAVERS (5-1, 0-0 Pac-12)
PPG: 79.5 | FG%: 47.7 | 3FG%: 36.4 | FT%: 72.1

SERIES: Oregon State leads, 2-0 (1-0 at neutral sites)

LAST: SJSU lost, 65-55, on Dec. 29, 1986

NOTES: Oregon State is on a three-game winning streak after defeating Wyoming, UC Santa Barbara and Grambling State. The Beavers’ lone loss was to Oklahoma, 77-69, on Nov. 12. Tres Tinkle, son of head coach Wayne Tinkle, is averaging a team-best 21.7 points per game, which ranks 17th in the NCAA, along with a team-high 9.5 rebounds per game.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
TV: FS1 with Jeff Leverning and Casey Jacobsen

STREAM: FoxSports.com/live/FS1

RADIO: Justin Allegri on the call through TuneIn.com and the TuneIn app. Search TuneIn for “San Jose St. Basketball”.

ZACH ATTACK
A constant in the Spartans’ last three games has been the play of reserve guard Zach Chappell. Chappell posted a season-high 17 points, including 3-of-3 shooting from deep, in Saturday’s loss to Portland State. Chappell tallied 14 points in a win over Simpson on Nov. 17, going 5-of-7 from the field including a pair of 3-pointers. The sophomore also posted 10 points in a win against Grambling State, again knocking down a pair of 3s. The Spartans are shooting just 27.1% from three on the season, but Chappell is shooting 42.9% from deep.

SAN JOSE STATE STYMIES GRAMBLING STATE
Grambling State entered the game on Nov. 20 with the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense, averaging 114 points over its first three games. The Spartans held the Tigers 38 points under their average in an 83-76 win at the Provident Credit Union Event Center. Grambling State was 1-of-10 shooting on 3-pointers.

BALANCED EFFORT IN WIN OVER SIMPSON
The Spartans had 13 different players score in an 85-60 win over Simpson on Nov. 17. Zach Chappell came off the bench to score a season-high 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Seneca Knight was 6-of-8 shooting for 15 points. Craig LeCesne added 13 points in 19 minutes. Ralph Agee posted 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Harminder Dhaliwal made his collegiate debut and had 2 points and 2 rebounds in six minutes.

SAN JOSE STATE STUNS HOFSTRA IN SEASON OPENER
SJSU opened the 2019-20 season with a bang, defeating Hofstra on the road, 79-71, on Nov. 6. Hofstra won 27 games last year, SJSU lost 27 games. In his Spartan debut, Richard Washington posted a team-high 23 points off the bench on 8-of-13 shooting. He scored 12 of his 23 points in the final four minutes, including a stretch of three straight three-pointers to put the game away. Craig LeCesne had his first career double-double with a career-high 19 points and 11 rebounds. It was SJSU’s first win in a road opener since 2010-11 when the Spartans topped Eastern Washington, 67-60. The Spartans snapped a 21-game road losing streak dating back to 2017-18. SJSU won on the East Coast for the first time since 2001-02, when the Spartans defeated Fairleigh Dickinson at the BCA Tournament hosted by NC State in Raleigh, N.C.

FOUR WINS FOLLOWED BY A TITLE
The Spartans are hoping to duplicate the success of the 1995-96 squad. SJSU won the Big West Conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year after going 4-23 during the 1994-95 season. The Spartans went 4-27 last season.

LOTS OF STARTERS BACK
The Spartans return seven players who started at least one game a season ago. Seneca Knight is the most experienced, as the sophomore started 17 games, including the final 12, of his rookie season. Brae Ivey was just behind Knight, as the former junior college transfer started 16 games last season. Craig LeCesne and Zach Chappell both started 15 games last year. Christian Anigwe, Isaiah Nichols and Trey Smith each started one game.

SIX NEW FACES FOR 2019-20
Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau will have the help of six newcomers on the roster in 2019-20.

The Spartans have three new junior college transfers in Richard Washington (Tallahassee CC), Eduardo Lane (Marshalltown CC) and Ralph Agee (East LA College). Washington started his collegiate career at Wake Forest, where he played eight games as a freshman before an injury caused him to miss the entire 2017-18 season.

Another Wake Forest transfer will join the Spartans on the floor this season, as  Samuel Japhet-Mathias will be eligible after a redshirt season last year. The former four-star recruit appeared in 17 games off the bench at Wake Forest as a freshman in 2016-17. He posted 6 points and 4 rebounds at No. 17 Xavier.

Prioleau added two freshmen this season in Omari Moore and Harminder Dhaliwal.

TELEVISION SCHEDULE
SJSU will play 10 games on TV this season, including three at home. SJSU hosts an ESPN networks game this year for the first time since 2010-11, when either ESPN2 or ESPNU will carry the SJSU tip against Utah State on Dec. 4. SJSU will also be on ESPN2 or ESPNU when visiting Utah State on Feb. 26. SJSU will have four non-conference games on TV, all against Pac-12 competition. SJSU will be on CBS Sports Network when hosting Stanford at the Provident Credit Union Event Center on Dec. 14. SJSU will battle both UCLA and Arizona on Pac-12 Networks and meet Oregon State on FS1 for a neutral site matchup in Las Vegas. The Spartans will also have four Mountain West contests on AT&T SportsNet this season — Jan. 15 at UNLV, Jan. 21 at New Mexico, Feb. 8 at Nevada and Feb. 29 vs. UNLV.

San Jose State gets blown out at home by Portland State, 91-76

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Photo credit: @SanJoseStateMBB

By Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose State men’s basketball team concluded its homestand with a game versus the Portland State Vikings on Saturday evening at Provident Credit Union Event Center. SJSU also hoped to win their third straight game.

On the contrary, SJSU was unable to keep the winning ways rolling. Portland State had the game from start to finish.

The Spartans played from behind from the get-go as the Vikings jumped out to an 11-point lead at the 10:22 mark before Richard Washington swung the momentum back to the Spartans’ favor with a deep 3-pointer. Zach Chappell scored the next 9 SJSU points with three triples to cut the deficit to 3 at 26-23. But the Spartans just couldn’t keep  up as the Vikings closed out the first half with a 14-6 run to take a 40-30 lead into the locker room.

Portland State showed no signs of slowing down out of the break. The Vikings extended the lead to 16 at the second media timeout at 52-36. The Vikings’ 15-2 run then put the game out of reach as they claimed a 24-point advantage. SJSU turned the ball over five times in the span and finished the night with 20 turnovers.

SJSU, however, didn’t go down without a fight. Seneca Knight sparked an 11-0 SJSU run that cut the lead down to 69-56 with 5:13 to go before a Portland State 3 put an end to it. After a pair of Chappell free throws, the lead was cut to 11, which was as close as the Spartans would get. Portland State hit free throws in the final minutes to shut the door and pick up their second win of the season.

The Spartans (3-3) were held to a 40% shooting clip and was 28% from behind the arc after putting up 25 shots. They made just 3-of-10 in the second half.

SJSU got most of their points (47) from off the bench as Washington (18) and Chappell (17) combined for 35 points. Knight, who was held scoreless until 7:36 remaining, finished with 17 points of his own. Washington pulled down a team-high 8 boards.

Despite a poor start from the free throw line in the first half, SJSU fared well in the second half, going 16-of-17 from the charity strip

Portland State (2-3) was led by Matt Hauser’s game-high 24 points. Hauser was one of six Vikings to reach double-digits. The team shot 44% for the evening.

The Spartans head to the Pacific Northwest to take on the Oregon State Beavers on Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 8 pm PST.

San Jose State shoots for third straight win on Saturday

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By Ana Kieu

SAN JOSE, Calif. — The San Jose State men’s basketball team will go for a third straight win at 7 pm on Saturday evening when the Portland State Vikings visit the Provident Credit Union Event Center.

Here’s what you need to know about Saturday’s contest.

SAN JOSE STATE SPARTANS (3-2, 0-0 Mountain West)
PPG: 68.6 | FG%: 42.2 | 3FG%: 27.0 | FT%: 58.6

NOTES: The Spartans are looking for their first three-game winning streak since 2016-17 when SJSU won four consecutive games as part of a 14-16 season. The Spartans are shooting for their fourth win of the season just three weeks into the season after posting four total wins in each of the previous two years. Seneca Knight is averaging a team-high 11.8 points per game while shooting 48.9% from the field.

PORTLAND STATE VIKINGS (1-3, 0-0 Big Sky)
PPG: 79.5 | FG%: 41.7 | 3FG%: 28.8 | FT%: 68.1

SERIES: SJSU leads, 4-1 (2-1 in San Jose)

LAST: SJSU won 76-73 in OT on 12/28/07 in Portland

NOTES: Portland State is 1-3 to start this season after going 16-16 last year, including an 11-9 mark in Big Sky play. Holland Woods is averaging a team-high 18.3 PPG. He had 27 points against Indiana and 22 on Wednesday against Portland. The Vikings are just 19-of-66 from 3-point range this season. Matt Hauser has hit nine of those 3s.

BROADCASTS
TELEVISION: None

STREAM: Stream all non-televised SJSU home games via the Mountain West Digital Network at sjsuspartans.com/watch.

RADIO: Justin Allegri on the call through TuneIn.com and the TuneIn app. Search TuneIn for “San Jose St. Basketball”.

SOCIAL MEDIA: Follow @SanJoseStateMBB on Twitter for in-game updates

ZEALOUS ZACH
A constant in the Spartans’ two straight wins has been the play of reserve guard Zach Chappell. Chappell tallied a season-high 14 points in a win over Simpson on Nov. 17, going 5-of-7 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers. Chappell then posted 10 points in the win against Grambling State, again knocking down a pair of 3-pointers. The Spartans are shooting just 27.0 percent on threes on the season but Chappell is shooting 38.1% from deep.

SPARTANS STYMIE GRAMBLING STATE
Grambling State entered the game on Nov. 20 at SJSU with the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense, averaging 114 points over its first three games. The Spartans held the Tigers to 38 points under their average in an 83-76 win at the Provident Credit Union Event Center. Grambling State was 1-of-10 shooting on 3-pointers.

EFFECTIVE EFFORT IN WIN OVER SIMPSON
The Spartans had 13 different players score in an 85-60 win over Simpson on Nov. 17. Zach Chappell came off the bench to score a season-high 14 points, including a pair of 3-pointers. Seneca Knight was 6-of-8 shooting for 15 points. Craig LeCesne added 13 points in 19 minutes. Ralph Agee posted 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Harminder Dhaliwal made his collegiate debut and had two points and two rebounds in six minutes.

SPARTANS STUN HOFSTRA IN SEASON OPENER
SJSU opened the 2019-20 season with a bang, defeating Hofstra on the road, 79-71, on Nov. 6. Hofstra won 27 games last year, SJSU lost 27 games. In his Spartan debut, Richard Washington, a JC transfer and former Wake Forest guard, posted a team-high 23 points off the bench on 8-of-13 shooting. He scored 12 of his 23 points in the final four minutes, including a stretch of three straight 3-pointers to put the game away. Craig LeCesne had his first career double-double with a career-high 19 points plus 11 rebounds. It was SJSU’s first win in a road opener since 2010-11 when the Spartans topped Eastern Washington, 67-60. The Spartans snapped a 21-game road losing streak dating back to 2017-18. SJSU won on the East Coast for the first time since 2001-02, when the Spartans defeated Fairleigh Dickinson at the BCA Tournament hosted by NC State in Raleigh, N.C.

FOUR WINS FOLLOWED BY A TITLE
SJSU hopes to duplicate the success of the 1995-96 squad. The Spartans won the Big West Conference tournament and advanced to the NCAA Tournament a year after going 4-23 during the 1994-95 season. The Spartans went 4-27 last season.

SEEING RETURNING STARTERS 
The Spartans return seven players who started at least one game a season ago. Seneca Knight is the most experienced, as the sophomore started 17 games, including the final 12, of his rookie season. Brae Ivey was just behind Knight, as the former junior college transfer started 16 games last season. Craig LeCesne and Zach Chappell both started 15 games last year. Christian Anigwe, guard Isaiah Nichols and walk-on guard Trey Smith each started one game.

SIX NEW PLAYERS
Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau will have the help of six newcomers on the roster in 2019-20. The Spartans have three new junior college transfers in Richard Washington (Tallahassee CC), Eduardo Lane (Marshalltown CC) and Ralph Agee (East LA College). Washington started his collegiate career at Wake Forest, where he played eight games as a freshman before an injury caused him to miss the entire 2017-18 season. Another Wake Forest transfer will join the Spartans on the floor this season, as center Samuel Japhet-Mathias will be eligible after a redshirt season last year. The former four-star recruit appeared in 17 games off the bench at Wake Forest as a freshman in 2016-17. He posted six points and four rebounds at No. 17 Xavier. Prioleau added two freshmen this season in guard Omari Moore and walk-on center Harminder Dhaliwal.

TELEVISION SCHEDULE
SJSU will play 10 games on TV this season, including three at home. SJSU hosts an ESPN networks game this year for the first time since 2010-11, when ESPN2 or ESPNU will carry the SJSU against Utah State on Dec. 4. SJSU will also be on ESPN2 or ESPNU when visiting Utah State on Feb. 26. SJSU will have four non-conference games on TV, all against Pac-12 teams. The Spartans will be on CBS Sports Network when hosting Stanford at the Provident Credit Union Event Center on Dec. 14. SJSU will battle both UCLA and Arizona on Pac-12 Networks and meet Oregon State on FS1 for a neutral site matchup in Las Vegas. The Spartans will also have four Mountain West games on AT&T SportsNet this season — Jan. 15 at UNLV, Jan. 21 at New Mexico, Feb. 8 at Nevada and Feb. 29 vs. UNLV.

Cardinal stretch season-opening win streak to six; beat William & Mary 81-50

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, November 21, 2019

Tyrell Terry continued his hot shooting for Stanford on Thursday, as the undefeated Cardinal overwhelmed visiting William & Mary 81-50 in non-conference men’s basketball before an announced crowd of 2,502 at Maples Pavilion.

Terry was 8 of 11 shooting overall, 5 of 7 behind the arc, and finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds and three assists. Oscar da Silva and Daejon Davis each added 14 points for the Cardinal (6-0). Da Silva was 5 of 8 from the floor, and Davis made 8 of 11 field goals (2 of 2 3-pointers).

Terry was averaging 14.0 points per game going into Thursday’s game and leads the Cardinal with 3.4 assists per game.

This is the first time Stanford opened a season with six wins since 2008-09.

Andy Van Vliet led William & Mary (4-2) with 11 points, with Quinn Blair adding 10 points. Nathan Knight, who netted 30 points against Oklahoma, was held to 2 of 4 field goals and five rebounds.

Overall, the Cardinal shot 55 percent (26 of 47 field goals, including 8 of 16 3-pointers), and made 21 of 30 free throws. Stanford outrebounded the Tribe 39-25.

Stanford held the Tribe scoreless for a 4:26 stretch in the first half and closed out the half with an 8-2 run, building a 39-25 halftime lead. The Cardinal outscored William & Mary 49-25 in the second half.

Going into Thursday’s game, the Tribe matched a school record with three straight road wins. W&M started 4-0 for the first time in 27 years, and Dane Fischer is the first Tribe coach to win his first four games since 1943-44.

The Cardinal hit the road next week, when they travel to the Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, meeting Oklahoma on Monday.

Stanford Cardinal podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Big Game coming, will Cardinal show up against Cal?; Cardinal MBB looks for 5 straight tonight

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Photo credit: collegefootballnews.com

On the Cardinal podcast with Jerry Feitelberg:

#1 Jerry, we’ll start with football first. The Cardinal are coming off two loses going into the Big Game at Stanford this Saturday. Are their any concerns that head coach David Shaw should have going into this one?

#2 In the those two losses, the Cardinal were really taken out of their last game with a 49-22 loss to Washington State University. Will defense be a concern for Stanford?

#3 The Cardinal’s quarterback David Mills threw 33 for 50, for 504 yards, three touchdowns, and two interceptions he got lost of yards against the Cougars. Is this something that could be of an advantage against a struggling Cal team who has lost three of their last four?

#4 The Stanford Cardinal men’s basketball team is racking up the wins they did it again on Tuesday night against Maryland Eastern Shore with a 76-55 win and controlled the offense for most of the game.

#5 The Cardinal host William and Mary Tribe tonight. The Cardinal have now won four straight are undefeated and dominated in their last game. Jerry tells us how Stanford will do in this one.

Jerry Feitelberg is a beat writer for Stanford Cardinal basketball and does the Cardinal podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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.