By Jonathon Schaffer — Reporter
In just their second true home game of the season, The San Jose State Spartans (5-15, 3-13 MW) were not able to avoid the sweep against the Runnin’ Rebels (10-11, 7-7 MW) of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Rebels’ junior guard Bryce Hamilton led the game with 17 points and senior forward Cheikh Mbacke Diong dominated in the paint with 13 rebounds. As for the Spartans, it was freshman guard Sebastian Mendoza who led the team with 14 points.
“Sebastian’s feeling it,” senior guard Richard Washington said. “He’s been coming along and playing very well for us and [I’m] definitely looking forward to seeing his growth.”
Both teams struggled to score in the first half, but the Rebels had more problems with six turnovers in the first five minutes of the game. After an early timeout, UNLV upped its play taking a 15-8 lead.
The Spartans kept up with the pace, cashing in on three field goals in an 8-4 run to tie the game up at 19 with 7:32 left in the first half.
The Spartans then went on a 6-0 run to gain the lead at 25-22, but the Rebels clawed back to snag a one-point lead by halftime, 28-27.
The freshmen led the charge after the first half with Spartan guard Sebastian Mendoza dropping seven points and Rebel guard Nicquel Blake netting six.
Washington, who came into the game averaging 20.7 points, was held to a goose egg in the first half.
As for the second half, both teams went back-and-forth with turnovers and missed shots, but the Rebels then sprung to a 10-point lead with an 11-1 run, putting the score at 42-32 with 15:21 left in the game
The Spartans struggled to contain the Rebels, trailing them majorly in the rebound column 44-18.
SJSU responded with a 13-0 run, disintegrating the Rebels’ lead and tying the game at 54 behind Washington’s seven quick points.
However, the Rebels were able to gain a late-game lead of 67-64, and the Spartans were not able to tie the game with a last-second shot by Washington that banked off the rim.
Despite the loss, coach Jean Prioleau loved the effort his guys put out on the court.
“I thought our guys played their butts off,” Prioleau said. “They were able to come back twice during the game and I think our team is better than our record.”
The Spartans will now travel to Wyoming (12-9, 6-8 MW) to take on the Cowboys at the Arena-Auditorium on Thursday at 7 p.m.
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