By Lexie Shezifi — Reporter
San Jose State men’s basketball faced its second straight loss of the season, losing to Cal Poly 75-71 in San Luis Obispo on Sunday.
It was the first meeting between the two teams since 2011.
Things were looking good for SJSU early as the team jumped out to a 12-4 lead five minutes into the game.
Guard Richard Washington continued to lead in scoring, but was rejoined at the top of the stat sheet by fellow guard Seneca Knight.
Knight, who has had a quiet season so far, had 10 points in the first half on 3-of-5 shooting and 4-of-4 from the free throw line.
Knight finished the game with 18 points, seven rebounds and two assists.
Washington scored 24 points to combine with Knight for 42, but it wasn’t enough to keep SJSU in the game.
Despite SJSU’s strong start, Cal Poly was able to close the gap and head into halftime just two points behind the Spartans.
The second half was rough for the Spartans as they began with missed free throws and turnovers.
Washington continued to put points on the board, but it was too little too late.
One area that head coach Jean Prioleau wanted to work on this season was defense, and that was evident against Cal Poly.
The Spartans were able to hold their opponent to 44 percent shooting from the field and 31 percent from three-point range.
The key to the game was bench scoring, which is what boosted Cal Poly to victory as the Mustangs got 40 bench points compared to the Spartans’ 10.
Additionally SJSU missed 12 free throws compared to only five from Cal Poly.
The Spartans will look ahead to play Santa Clara University in Santa Cruz on Friday.
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