Jan. 28, 2015
San Jose, Calif. --- The San José State men's basketball team put itself in position to win the game deep into the second period, but some costly turnovers along with a season-high 20 points from Air Force's Matt Mooney held the Spartans up in a 66-52 loss in The Event Center Wednesday night.
Air Force (9-11, 2-7 MW) built their lead to 11 points, 48-37, with just under nine minutes to go in the second period. Right when it seemed the game was heading in the direction the Spartans have seen it go so many times this season, Jaleel Williams scored five straight points and Darryl Gaynor added a layup which slashed the deficit quickly down to four points.
"Our guys are not going to quit, or fold," said Spartans' head coach Dave Wojcik. "I won't allow that. But, when we dig ourselves a hole and fight so hard to get back, it takes a lot out of us."
From that point, San José State turned the ball over four times on critical possessions, and the Falcons hit 11-of-11 free throws to close out the game.
Despite holding Air Force's Marek Olesinski and Zach Kochur scoreless in the contest, freshman Matt Mooney scored a season-high 20 points, and Trevor Lyons added all 11 of his points in the second half.
"That's what good players do," Wojcik said. "When other guys aren't having a good game, they step up. That's what they did tonight."
Williams led the Spartans with 16 points and Darryl Gaynor II added 15. Rashad Muhammad also finished in double-figures scoring, but all of his points came in the first eight minutes of the game.
San José State (2-18, 0-8 MW) heads to The Pit this Saturday for the only meeting of the year with the New Mexico Lobos. Tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m. MT and can be seen on ROOT Sports Rocky Mountain. Fans can also tune into Stretch Internet Radio or KLIV 1590 AM Radio to listen to the game.
Newspaper Box Score
Air Force Falcons vs San Jose State
1/28/15 7:00 p.m. at The Event Center
At The Event Center
AIR FORCE FALCONS 66, SAN JOSE STATE 52
AIR FORCE FALCONS (9-11, 2-7 MW)
MOONEY, Matt 7-12 2-2 20; GRAHAM, Hayden 6-12 4-5 16; LYONS, Trevor 3-7 4-6
11; HAMMONDS, Justin 2-5 4-4 9; MOER, Zach 1-3 2-2 5; KOCUR, Zach 0-0 2-2 2;
EARLS, DeLovell 0-2 2-2 2; SIPLES, C.J. 0-0 1-2 1; MANNING, Ryan 0-1 0-0 0;
JAMES, Dezmond 0-0 0-0 0; OLESINSKI, Marek 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 19-45 21-25 66.
SAN JOSE STATE (2-18, 0-8 MW)
Williams, Jaleel 5-11 5-5 16; Gaynor II, Darryl 4-8 5-6 15; Muhammad, Rashad
4-10 0-1 11; Thornton, Isaac 3-10 1-2 7; Mahoney, Danny 1-2 0-0 2; BASOR,
Ivo 0-0 1-2 1; Singer, Ryan 0-1 0-0 0; Mitchell, Brandon 0-2 0-0 0. Totals17-44 12-16 52.
Air Force Falcons............. 29 37 - 66
San Jose State................ 23 29 - 52
3-point goals--Air Force Falcons 7-16 (MOONEY, Matt 4-7; HAMMONDS, Justin
1-2; LYONS, Trevor 1-2; MOER, Zach 1-1; MANNING, Ryan 0-1; OLESINSKI, Marek
0-1; GRAHAM, Hayden 0-2), San Jose State 6-18 (Muhammad, Rashad 3-6; GAYNOR
II, Darryl 2-4; Williams, Jaleel 1-4; Singer, Ryan 0-1; Mahoney, Danny 0-1;
Thornton, Isaac 0-2). Fouled out--Air Force Falcons-None, San Jose
State-WILLIAMS, Jaleel; Mitchell, Brandon. Rebounds--Air Force Falcons 33
(GRAHAM, Hayden 6), San Jose State 25 (Williams, Jaleel 7). Assists--Air
Force Falcons 13 (HAMMONDS, Justin 4), San Jose State 11 (Thornton, Isaac
5). Total fouls--Air Force Falcons 18, San Jose State 23. Technical
fouls--Air Force Falcons-None, San Jose State-None. A-2045