By Don Le — Reporter
1,346 were greeted with a Spartan victory at the Provident Credit Union Center Friday evening.
San Jose State men’s basketball won its first exhibition match of the season 60-56 against Cal State East Bay.
Junior guard Omari Moore led the Spartans with a double double of 23 points and 13 rebounds. Freshman guard Alvaro Cardenas Torre was a marksman finishing with 11 points on two three points shots in his debut game for the Spartans.
While the exhibition game does not affect SJSU’s standings in the Mountain West, the intensity between the two California state basketball teams had an intense atmosphere and came down to the wire with a 56-53 score with 1:51 in the game.
Moore gave SJSU a two possession lead with a finger roll with less than a minute left but the Pioneers quickly answered back with a three pointer to bring it up 58-56.
Senior guard Trey Smith iced the game with a pair of free throws with one second of game time remaining.
This marked SJSU’s first game under new head coach Tim Miles whose team looked solid in his debut coaching performance despite missing last year’s top scorer senior guard Richard Washington.
Washington averaged 19.5/5.2/2.2 in the Spring 2021 season. His absence is a result of a season-long suspension for hiring a non-certified agent and getting paid for an unsanctioned 3-on-3 event, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“We were happy to get this game started in front of the public, in front of the big bright lights” Miles said. He took a moment postgame to thank East Bay, its players and coaching staff for the helpful level of competition.
“We found a way to right the ship and get going with some different lineups.”
SJSU next hosts Cal State Fullerton next Thursday. The matchup is slated for a 7:00 p.m. PST start and can viewed on the MW network.
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