By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Spear Reporter
Junior guard Alvaro Cardenas dribbles the ball down the court | Photo by Titus Wilkinson – The Spear
SJSU men’s basketball (5-3) started off strong in the first half against Cal Poly (3-4), at one point holding an 11-point lead. Senior forward Trey Anderson started off the game with 8 points, six coming from beyond the three-point arc, contributing to SJSU’s 6 threes made in the first half.
But all of that seemed like a distant memory when Cal Poly guard Kobe Sanders hit the game tying three with 6 seconds left to send the game to overtime.
So what happened?
In the second half the San Jose State stopped making their air raid of three-point attempts to start slashing, a strategy which yielded mixed results against Cal Poly’s big men. In the first half SJSU shot 6-8 from three but in the second half they only shot 2-7.
San Jose State had two starters foul out late in the game. Trey Anderson fouled out with under a minute to go in the second half. Sophomore center Adrame Diongue fouled out within the first 15 seconds of overtime.
On top of all that, in the second half San Jose State played a bit sloppy turning the ball over eight times in the second half compared to just three times in the first half.
Down two starters and struggling to find rhythm while Cal Poly shot 4-6 from deep was enough for the Mustangs to come out on top.
Head coach Time Miles said he was very disappointed with the teams play on the night.
“Cal Poly came storming back and we didn’t take anything away (defensively),” Miles said. “You can’t have defense that porous and expect to win on the road.”
During the overtime period junior guard Ryen Perry would exit the game with what looked like an ankle/leg injury. In his post-game recap Miles stated he was worried about the injury but gave no further update.
Junior guard Myron Amey Jr. was a bright spot on the night as he scored 22 points and snagged six rebounds. Junior forward Tibet Goerner also played well dropping 17 points and collecting 9 rebounds.
An unfortunate loss for SJSU men’s basketball, but they look to bounce back on the road against Montana (2-4) on Dec. 2 at noon.