Nov. 16, 2014
San Jose, Calif. --- An early four-point lead in overtime for San José State was erased by a scoring drought that lasted over four minutes, and the Spartans fell to the University of Portland, 73-68, in the Event Center on Sunday.
Jordan Baker and Frank Rogers made an immediate impact for the Spartans in their first competition after sitting out all of last season. Baker led SJSU with 17 points and four assists while Rogers put in 16 points.
Rogers hauled in a big offensive rebound and converted a three-point play to give the Spartans a 62-60 lead with 47 seconds left in regulation. Volodymyr Gerun for Portland answered with a jumper that sent the game to overtime tied 62-62.
Portland scored their final six points in overtime at the free throw line and finished the game 20-for-27.
"We just didn't make enough plays down the stretch, and they did," said San José State head coach Dave Wojcik. "I credit their team. They have seniors who have been through the wars and have made shots down the stretch. They made more than us today."
San José State led Portland by as many as 13 in the second half. But the offense went stagnant following Baker's fourth foul with 12:18 remaining.
"It was tough," Baker said. "I knew the team needed me out there, but I just tried to give my teammates support from the bench. I was nervous, but it felt good to be back out on the floor with my brothers."
Portland went on a 10-2 run over the next 6:29, led by senior point guard Kevin Bailey who finished with 22 points. Alec Wintering's layup with 2:32 left gave Portland its first lead since early in the first half. Wintering finished with a game-high 24 points.
Jalen James finished with 13 points and Darryl Gaynor II added 12. Jaleel Williams led the Spartans with 10 rebounds.
"Little things like hitting our free throws came back to bite us," James said. "It's tough and it hurts."
San José State missed 10 free throws in the contest, and committed 12 second-half turnovers.
The men's basketball team is back on the court Wednesday, November 19 at 7:00 p.m. versus Pepperdine in The Event Center.
Newspaper Box Score
University of Portland vs San Jose State
11/16/14 1:00 p.m. at The Event Center
UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND 73, SAN JOSE STATE 68
UNIVERSITY OF PORTLAND (2-0)
WINTERING, Alec 7-11 6-6 24; BAILEY, Kevin 7-20 6-7 22; GERUN, Volodymyr 4-9
5-9 13; PRESSLEY, Bryce 3-8 2-3 9; BARKER, Riley 1-6 1-2 3; VAN DER MARS,
Thomas 1-6 0-0 2; ZUBIZARRETA, Aitor 0-0 0-0 0; TAYLOR, Gabe 0-0 0-0 0;
SHARP, Bobby 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-62 20-27 73.
SAN JOSE STATE (1-1)
Baker, Jordan 6-13 3-8 17; Rogers, Frank 6-11 4-7 16; James, Jalen 5-8 2-3
13; Gaynor II, Darryl 4-7 3-4 12; Muhammad, Rashad 1-5 2-2 5; WILLIAMS,
Jaleel 2-7 0-0 5; Bahner, Leon 0-1 0-0 0; Thornton, Isaac 0-6 0-0 0. Totals
24-58 14-24 68.
University of Portland.......... 26 36 11 - 73
San Jose State................ 37 25 6 - 68
3-point goals--University of Portla 7-14 (WINTERING, Alec 4-4; BAILEY, Kevin
2-4; PRESSLEY, Bryce 1-3; SHARP, Bobby 0-2; GERUN, Volodymyr 0-1), San Jose
State 6-20 (Baker, Jordan 2-5; Williams, Jaleel 1-5; Gaynor II, Darryl 1-2;
Muhammad, Rashad 1-3; James, Jalen 1-2; Thornton, Isaac 0-2; Rogers, Frank
0-1). Fouled out--University of Portla-None, San Jose State-THORNTON, Isaac;
Baker, Jordan. Rebounds--University of Portla 42 (GERUN, Volodymyr 10), San
Jose State 38 (Williams, Jaleel 10). Assists--University of Portla 18
(BAILEY, Kevin 6), San Jose State 10 (Baker, Jordan 4). Total
fouls--University of Portla 21, San Jose State 23. Technical
fouls--University of Portla-None, San Jose State-None. A-1453