By: Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Spear Reporter
Photo by Aikman Fang | The Spear
SJSU men’s basketball defeated Cal State East Bay 77-66 on Saturday, but it wasn’t all pretty for the Spartans. Early in the first half, SJSU found itself down eight points to its D2 opponent.
But for head coach Tim Miles, it was all a learning experience for the younger guys on the roster.
“I was going to let them lose the game for us,” Miles said. “I wasn’t going to put the starters back in because these guys need to learn.”
SJSU was able to put it together and dominate in the second half. But this was the first look at a new Spartan team without the key presence of Omari Moore.
The Spartans also lost two other key players with forward Ibrahima Diallo transferring to University of Central Florida and forward Sage Tolbert III graduating.
For Miles, part of the fun every season is finding out what makes a new team click.
“That’s what’s great about every new team,” Miles said. “This team has to figure out how to win with the guys we’ve got.”
Junior guard Alvaro Cardenas showed why he has been a team captain since he was a freshman. All throughout the game, he could be seen barking at players from the sideline and offering SJSU newcomer sophomore center Adrame Diongue words of encouragement when he was on the court.
“He does about half the coaching for the team,” Miles said. “(Sometimes) I don’t even have to say anything, he’s always on point.”
While SJSU got the win, the team got off to a rocky start. At one point in the first half, the Spartans found themselves trailing by eight points.
This was largely because the Pioneers were carving up SJSU in the paint early on. In the first half scored 20 of their 27 points in the paint compared to SJSU’s 10 out of 31.
But towards the end of the first half and all throughout the second half, SJSU played as they should against the Pioneers. The team dominated in part due to Adrame Diongue’s second half bounce back.
Diongue scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and had two blocks the close the game, helping solidify the paint presence that SJSU needed.
Senior forward Trey Anderson thought SJSU’s slow start was because of the team coming out of the gates a little too excited.
“We were super sped up, everyone wanted to score at first,” Anderson said. “We just slowed down and started playing together, sharing the ball.”
Head Coach Tim Miles let the young players see lots of game action in this exhibition. Freshman guard Latrell Davis shined in his minutes.
Davis scored 13 points including shooting 8-8 from the free throw line. Davis also snagged four rebounds, including three offensive rebounds.
At 6-foot-2-inches, Davis showed he could play bigger than his height.
“(I like) the physicalness from him,” Miles said. “He’s a guy that can get fouled for us, which I think we need.”
SJSU men’s basketball will open up the season at home vs. UC Irvine on Tuesday Nov. 7 at 7 p.m.