Nov. 20, 2013
Malibu, Calif.--Four Spartans scored in double figures, and San José State outscored Pepperdine by 16 in the second half as the Spartan men's basketball team won its first game of the season, 83-77, Wednesday night at the Firestone Fieldhouse.
The win gives first-year Spartan head coach Dave Wojcik his first career coaching win. He was hired in March to take over the program.
Jaleel Williams led the Spartans with a career-best 22 points as he was 9-for-17 from the field and added eight rebounds in 36 minutes of action. Devante Wilson was 6-for-10 from three-point range for a season-best 20 points in his first career start.
Two others came off the bench to score in double figures. Rashad Muhammad and D.J. Brown each scored 14 points. Muhamamad was 7-for-11 from three-point range, while Brown was 3-for-3 from three-point range and dished out three assists.
Down 44-34 at halftime, San José State (1-4) used a 21-10 run over the first seven minutes of the second half to take a 55-54 lead. Wilson hit four of his six three-pointers during that stretch.
Over the next 12-plus minutes, the lead changed four times. Pepperdine led by as man as four a 72-68 with 4:57 left in the game. The Spartans tied the game at 75-75 on a Muhammad field goal at the 2:44 mark. Muahmmad gave San José State the lead for good at 78-75 with a three-pointer at the top of the key with a defender in a face with 1:56 left in the game.
Williams extended the lead to 81-77 with a three-pointer on the left baseline with 32.6 seconds remaining. Jalen James and Muhammad each made a free throw in the last 20 second to seal the win.
The Spartan shooting was a tale of two halves. The team made just 10-of-32 shots from the field for 31.3 percent and 4-of-12 from three-point range. In the second half, San José State was 17-of-30 from the field for 56.7 percent and 10-of-15 from three-point range.
Another positive came from the point guard position. James and Brown combined for seven assists and no turnovers. For the game, San José State recorded 13 assists and just six turnovers.
Chris Cunningham recorded his first double-figure rebounding game with 11 boards, and he added four points and a blocked shot in 30 minutes of play. He also played the final 7:26 of the game with four fouls.
San José State opens the home portion of the regular season schedule this Saturday, November 23, against Cal State Fullerton at 12:30 p.m.,
11/20/13 7:05 p.m. at Malibu, Calif. (Firestone Fieldhouse)
SAN JOSÉ STATE 83, PEPPERDINE 77
SAN JOSÉ STATE (1-4)
Williams, Jaleel 9-17 2-4 22; Wilson, Devante 7-13 0-0 20; Brown, D.J. 4-5 3-4 14; Muhammad, Rashad 3-9 7-11 14; Alexander, Dylan 2-3 0-0 6; Cunningham, Chris 2-7 0-1 4; Thornton, Isaac 0-0 2-2 2; James, Jalen 0-7 1-2 1; Pollard, Matt 0-0 0-0 0; VanKirk, Mike 0-0 0-0 0; Mitchell, Brandon 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 15-24 83.
PEPPERDINE (3-1)
LANE, Brendan 10-15 2-4 23; DAVIS, Stacy 6-13 7-10 20; SKOUEN, Nikolas 5-10 0-0 13; MAJOR, Jeremy 2-5 5-7 9; BROOKS, Malcolm 3-8 0-0 6; RUSSELL, Atif 1-3 3-4 5; KRAMER, Malte 0-2 1-2 1; MURRAY JR., Lamond 0-0 0-1 0; MILLS, Austin 0-2 0-0 0; JESPERSON, David 0-0 0-0 0; VAN DYKE, Jeff 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-58 18-28 77.
San José State................ 34 49 - 83
Pepperdine.................... 44 33 - 77
3-point goals--San José State 14-27 (Wilson, Devante 6-10; Brown, D.J. 3-3; Williams, Jaleel 2-6; Alexander, Dylan 2-3; Muhammad, Rashad 1-3; James, Jalen 0-2), Pepperdine 5-22 (SKOUEN, Nikolas 3-8; DAVIS, Stacy 1-2; LANE, Brendan 1-2; RUSSELL, Atif 0-1; KRAMER, Malte 0-1; MILLS, Austin 0-2; BROOKS, Malcolm 0-5; MAJOR, Jeremy 0-1). Fouled out--San José State-None, Pepperdine-None. Rebounds--San José State 38 (Cunningham, Chris 11), Pepperdine 43 (DAVIS, Stacy 9; LANE, Brendan 9). Assists--San José State 13 (James, Jalen 4), Pepperdine 14 (MAJOR, Jeremy 9). Total fouls--San José State 20, Pepperdine 17. Technical fouls--San José State-None, Pepperdine-None. A-847
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