By Aaron Johnson (@voz_aaron1) – Spear Reporter | Sophomore guard Latrell Davis drives to the rim. – photo by Evan Weiss (KSJS photographer)
It came down to the last shot for San Jose State (9-10, 2-5 MW).
With the score 70-69 in favor of New Mexico (14-4, 6-1 MW) junior center Rob Vaihola went up for a hook shot. He missed.
The rebound was grabbed by senior guard Josh Uduje who went up for a layup. He missed off the rim.
Seemingly out of nowhere, sophomore guard Latrell Davis cuts right to where the ball bounces and he puts up a shot that bounces off the backboard into the basket.
SJSU has a 71-70 lead with two seconds left.
“I just kept thinking we got to make one of these inside shots,” SJSU head coach Tim Miles. “Davis missed a layup against Western Illinois that could have put us ahead. So to kind of redeem himself that way is so important.”
Lobos senior center Nelly Junior Joseph half court shot fell short of the basket and SJSU handed them their first conference loss of the season.
“(This win) is so important for them to keep their enthusiasm up,” Miles said. “I think it means something to do it at home. We have not been a very good home team, we’ve lost a lot of close games.”
For SJSU to be in this position at the end of the game junior guard Will McClendon made two late threes to respond after New Mexico made a three of its own.
McClendon finished the game with 12 points on four three-pointers.
Vaihola was the Spartan’s leading scorer on the game with 18 points while also grabbing nine rebounds. Vaihola played great defense all game and provided a dominant physical presence in the paint.
SJSU won the rebounding battle 42-38 in the game.
“(Vaihola) getting second chance opportunities for us and getting the other teams bigs in foul trouble is huge for us,” Davis said. “He plays his role perfectly every game now. It just fuels us to do more to do what we want to.”
Not only did Davis hit the go-ahead shot, he also hit his second first-half full-court buzzer beater of the season.
Davis finished the game with 11 points and six rebounds.
This game marked a breakout game for freshman guard Jermaine Washington as he had 13 points and finished the game with a plus/minus of 18.
“He was picking Donovan Dent, who is one of the best point guards in the country, up from half court and making his life difficult,” Uduje said. “Just seeing him be able to play both sides of the floor is really exciting.”
Uduje finished the game with 12 points and eight rebounds.
Washington got minutes with the starters in the second half as graduate student guard Donovan Yap Jr. was struggling and dealing with injury according to Miles.
“It was fun to watch the fifth year guys skipping the ball across the court to get him an open look,” Miles said. “They’re looking for him and that says a lot about the confidence his teammates have in him.”
SJSU now grabs its second straight victory and after many tough losses to Mountain West teams, the team is in high spirits after a big upset victory.
“We’ve been within seven points in four of our losses (in conference),” Uduje said. “But finally we’re in the win column. Everyones super happy but we have to stay level headed and focus on Nevada on Saturday.”
The Spartans will hope to continue their hot streak against Nevada (10-7, 2-4 MW) on the road at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
