By Chris Estrada (@estradadotc ):
On the night junior Ryan Welage was honored for his 1,000 career point milestone, the Spartans (3-23 0-16 MW) lost to the San Diego State Aztecs (17-10 9-7 MW) 71-59.
Welage, who is also one made three-pointer away from being SJSU’s all-time leader, did not make a trey all night against the Aztecs as he was held to just nine points.
After a 3-pointer by junior Jaycee Hillsman put SJSU within one at the 14:14 mark of the first half, both squads went scoreless from the floor for the following five minutes.
The Spartans caught fire near the end of the first half outscoring the Aztecs 12-3 to take a 24-23 lead with just under three minutes remaining.
SJSU held the lead for one possession before giving it back to the Aztecs, never tasting the lead again as it went to the break down 30-27.
The Spartans started the second half slow, allowing the Aztecs to capitalize on missed opportunities. Keith Fisher scored the first bucket of the second half four minutes in, but by that time, SDSU had already widened the gap to 10.
SJSU did rally however, as a 16-8 run led by Fisher’s aggressiveness made it a one-possession game with 11 minutes remaining.
The three ball haunted the Spartans in the final 10 minutes as juniors Devin Watson and Max Montana rained in a few triples to ultimately run away with the win. The Aztecs totaled 12 triples while the Spartans had half as many with 6.
Both teams shot under 40 percent. Keith Fisher was the leading scorer for the Spartans with 21 points. He shot for 50 percent and was 9-10 from the charity strike.
SJSU will host Utah State for its last home game of the year on Wednesday at 7 p.m.