By Hugo Vera — Staff Writer
The San Jose State men’s basketball team commenced their 2018-19 season at the Event Center on Wednesday night and defeated Life Pacific College, 89-72.
The Spartans (1-0) set a strong offensive pace early in the first half when junior guard Brae Ivey scored a 3-pointer only 28 seconds into play.
Following a layup from freshman Zach Chappell, SJSU widened its lead when freshman Seneca Knight drew a foul and made all his free throws.
The Warriors (1-1) responded in turn with a jump shot 3-pointer made by point guard Edgardo Campos 3:11 into game time. His teammate Chez Lister then contributed an assist and layup to keep the Warriors trailing just four points.
A lost ball turned over by Campos then led to a streak by Chappell followed by his offensive rebound. Ivey assisted Knight in his fourth jump shot field goal to widen the score 30-17.
“We’re not a selfish team,” Ivey said. “We had the size advantage but we shouldn’t be letting Life Pacific score 72.”
Spartan forward Michael Steadman then secured an offensive rebound and went 2-0 in the paint before drawing a foul of his own and making all his free throws.
“There were a lot of fouls in the paint but really we need to attack the zone more,” Steadman said. “We settled for threes but we need way better ball control and all of us need to aim for the offensive glass.”
Late in the first half, Warrior guard Colin Cunniff rallied with two 3-pointers that was complemented with a defensive rebound from Warrior PG Andre Allen.
Campos would go on to score a 2-point FG in the paint only to have his jump shot blocked by Knight. Steadman bolstered the Spartan offense with an assist from junior guard Craig LeCesne before Ivey’s jump shot 3-pointer with 4:12 left in the half.
Despite a last-minute jump shot attempt from Lister, the Spartans took the first half 49-38.
The Spartan offense refused to relent in the second half with a 3-point jumper from Ivey that was joined with an additional two field goals from Knight.
Warrior guard Adam Gotelli resuscitated the LPC offense with a defensive rebound followed by yet another 3-pointer from Campos.
Junior guard Isaiah Nichols entered the game with 13:30 left in the second half. He secured a 3-point FG of his own and noticeably riled up the audience when he assisted senior center Oumar Barry’s layup in the paint with 9:27 remaining.
A series of allyoops and layups from Spartan guard Trey Smith and LeCesne forced further “deadballs” and turnovers from Allen and Warrior point guard Pedro Leal-Cruz. The Spartans ultimately won the inaugural game with a final score of 89-72.
Despite the season-opening victory, Spartans head coach Jean Prioleau made it clear that he and his team would not get cocky.
“Overall I like that we won, but I don’t like how we won.” he said. “We weren’t getting any rebounds and a lot of the threes were just because our guys were sucking in when they got close to the basket. I know we have a lot of big guys but we went small and kept adjusting the situation.”
The Spartans will continue regular season play on Saturday night when they host Southern Utah University at the Event Center.
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