By Austin Turner – Content Editor
Saturday’s game between San Jose State and Air Force had everything. Buzzer-beaters, slam-dunks and double-overtime. What else could a basketball fan want?
Well, a SJSU fan would still want that first Mountain West win.
The Falcons (9-11, 4-4 MWC) outlasted the Spartans (3-16, 0-7 MWC) 73-71 behind a clutch 3-pointer from Christopher Joyce with five seconds left in the second overtime period.
“We have a lot of kids in the locker room that are really frustrated and upset right now,” said SJSU head coach Jean Prioleau. “I told them to keep their heads up because we competed against a team that’s pretty good. We should’ve won this game and we let it slip away.”
In the first half, the Spartans played easily their best half of basketball all season. They scored the first 8 points of the game, and led by as many as 15 towards the end of the half. They held the Falcons to just 19 points, and held a 31-19 lead heading into the break after a half of terrific defense and ball-movement.
The second half went about as well as most second half’s have gone for SJSU. It was clear that the momentum had shifted immediately, as the Falcons opened the half on an 11-0 run. They were able to take their first lead in the game with just under eight minutes left, after a three from Caleb Morris.
Air Force held a 5 point lead with less than a minute left. Then, with 42 seconds remaining, a three from Michael Steadman cut the deficit to two.
After an Air Force free throw, it led by three with just four seconds left in the game. After receiving the inbounds pass, Brae Ivey ran down the court and took an off balance three, sinking it with 0.1 seconds left in regulation.
“My teammates and coaches told me to keep pushing,” Ivey said. “I stayed ready, and my time came.”
Ivey shined down the stretch. Even in a less-than-efficient 6-16 shooting performance with three turnovers, he made crucial shots in desperate times. He finished with 18 points.
In the first overtime, the Spartans built a lead as big as 5 points, but two quick threes and a free throw from the Falcons gave them a two point lead. Ivey made a clutch layup to tie it with 20 seconds on the clock, but missed the go-ahead free throw. He would also miss a jumper that would have won the game at the buzzer.
The second overtime was marred by missed free throws by the Spartans. They missed four in the period. Down by 1 with five seconds left, Air Force’s Christopher Joyce’s 3-point attempt bounced off the rim and fell through the net, giving the Falcons the lead.
Noah Baumann’s desperation shot to win the game fell just short at the buzzer.
The Spartan zone defense played well for much of the game. The Falcons were 11-47 from three, but the crucial deciding shot happened to be one of those 11.
“The reason we were in the zone is we were daring them to shoot,” Ivey said. “They made some big shots.”
Michael Steadman scored a season-high 24 points on 10-18 shooting and had 12 rebounds. Though clearly frustrated, Steadman was pleased with his performance.
“They were undersized and my teammates did a good job of giving me the ball,” Steadman said.
The Spartans took advantage of the size of the Falcons and punished them with 30 points in the paint. 6-foot-11 Ashtin Chastain, starting in-place of the injured Oumar Barry, had a solid showing with 5 points and 13 rebounds.
Despite the loss, Prioleau stayed optimistic about his team after the game.
“We have something,” he said. “I know it doesn’t look like that in the record, but we have something. And it showed up tonight in the beginning of this game. And we are going to build on that.”
The Spartans will try to build on it on Wednesday, when they head over to Logan to take on the Utah State Aggies at 6 p.m.
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