Photo credit: @SJSUMBB
By: Ana Kieu
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Just like the football program, the men’s basketball program for San Jose State Spartans hasn’t fared well.
San Jose State got swept by all three of their opponents at the Junkanoo Jam in Bimini, The Bahamas and returned home to host Santa Clara inside the Event Center on Saturday afternoon. Santa Clara entered the game as a winless team, so this increased San Jose State’s chances of getting their second win of the season.
Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau announced his starting lineup, which consisted of Michael Steadman, Brae Ivey, Oumar Barry, Noah Baumann and Craig LeCesne–all of whom are talented big men.
As expected, San Jose State won the tip and unleashed their power on Santa Clara. The Spartans went on a 10-2 run to open the first half. This led the Broncos to call a timeout.
Santa Clara refused to get stomped over and responded with a few 3-pointers to cut San Jose State’s lead to 4, 18-4, at the 10:59 mark of the half. The Broncos’ persistence didn’t stop there as they trailed by just 3, 23-20, at the media timeout with 7:49 left in the half. Spartan fans were thankful for Steadman and Ivey, who led the Spartans with 7 points apiece.
Baumann hit a 3 and Steadman made 2 layups to help the Spartans get back on top with a 7-point lead, 30-23, with 4:19 left in the half. Still, the Broncos were persistent and quickly responded as Henrik Jadersten made a layup of his own to reduce the Spartans’ lead to 5, 30-25, just moments before the final media timeout of the half. The Spartans, however, held onto that 5-point advantage and Spartan fans thanked Steadman, who led the Spartans with 11 points and 6 rebounds, for keeping the home team in the game.
But the Spartans’ lead was short-lived as the Broncos went on a 6-0 run to end the half. The Broncos tied the game at 35 apiece, thanks to Tahj Eaddy’s game-tying 3. Not only that, Eaddy followed up with a layup and a free throw to put the Broncos up 38-35 at the half.
Despite the 3-point deficit, San Jose State had some things to be proud of. Steadman had already tied his career-high with 15 points and 8 rebounds.
Ivey added 7 points, 3 assists and 2 rebounds for the Spartans.
At the first media timeout of the second half, the scoreboard showed that it was still a 3-point game for either team to rise above at the end of the game. LeCesne hit a 3 and the Spartans trailed the Broncos 45-42 at the 16:50 mark of the half.
The Broncos led by 5, 51-46, at the 11:58 mark of the half. Of course, the Spartans weren’t happy with the deficit, but Steadman continued to impress the Spartan fans by increasing his stats to 17 points and 9 rebounds.
Both teams exchanged shots for crucial points that kept the game close throughout the half. The Spartans trailed by 8, 69-61, with 1:29 left in the half. The Broncos then extended their lead to 10, 71-61, with 47.6 seconds left on the clock. Steadman put in a jumper to give the Spartans an extra 2 points, but Steadman’s attempt made no difference.
The Spartans lost to the Broncos 71-63.
The Spartans host the Indiana State Sycamores on Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 7:00 pm PT.
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