By Ernie Gonzalez —Executive Editor
Despite a career-high 31 points from Richard Washington, San Jose State came up short and never held a lead in Air Force Saturday, losing its fifth game in a row, 95-86.
It is the second time this season SJSU (7-19, 3-11 MW) has fallen to a Mountain West opponent that entered the contest at least on a seven-game skid.
The Spartans’ last win came against Falcons, but in San Jose on Jan. 25.
Both teams came into Saturday winless since that point, but the struggles didn’t show as they stormed out of the gates.
There were seven combined 3-pointers between the Spartans and Falcons (10-16, 4-10 MW) in the first 4:39 of the game. SJSU trailed 18-12 at that point.
Air Force guard Scottie Levelle was efficient all afternoon, shooting 10-of-14, finishing with 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
Levelle helped the Falcons jump to a 37-21 lead with 6:14 remaining until the half, but the Spartans responded.
SJSU rallied to make it a 39-36 game thanks to Washington’s effort on both ends of the court.
Air Force did close the half on an 11-1 run however, caused by Spartan turnovers and missed shots at the wrong time.
The Falcons never looked back. They went up on SJSU 79-59 with 9:23 to play. SJSU didn’t throw the game however.
In the following 3:47, SJSU went on a 15-1 run to make it 80-74, again in large part because of Washington, who had 8 during the run.
Other top performers for the Academy included center Ryan Swan who also tallied 22 for the Falcons and guard A.J. Walker, who finished one assist shy of a triple double.
Spartan guard Seneca Knight, who has been on a tear lately, was relatively held in check. Knight hit 6 of SJSU’s first 9 points but never got comfortable, finishing with 13.
SJSU gets its second shot at Boise State this season on Wednesday at the Event Center, a team it hasn’t beat since the 2015-16 season.
Follow Ernie on Twitter @superego1012
