Jan. 7, 2015
Colorado Springs, Colo. --- The San José State men's basketball team had the Air Force Falcons right where it wanted them, leading by six with under eight minutes left in the first half. However, the game was never the same after Air Force closed the period on a 19-2 run, and never relinquished a double-digit lead the rest of the way, handing the Spartans a 78-56 loss in Mountain West action at Clune Arena Wednesday night.
"For whatever reason we lost our edge," said Spartans' head coach Dave Wojcik. "I don't know why. Guys started thinking they could do it themselves, and that's not how you build a lead."
Four three-point baskets in the first seven minutes for Rashad Muhammad got the Spartans (2-13, 0-3 MW) off to the solid start. Darryl Gaynor II's quick five-point burst gave SJSU its largest lead of six with 7:21 left in the first half.
But the Spartans missed their next seven shots, while Air Force (8-6, 1-2 MW) got multiple baskets from Marek Olesinski and Hayden Graham. Olesinski with 16 and Graham with 14 were two of four Falcons to finish in double-figure scoring.
"I do believe we got tired," Wojcik said. "I could see it on their faces. But I told them that nobody is going to feel sorry for us because we only have eight guys. We just didn't have that edge that we had on Saturday night and we need that."
Muhammad led the Spartans for the seventh time this season with his season-high 26 points that included a season-best six threes. Gaynor II finished with 11 points, and Ivo Basor added nine.
San José State continues its road trip by heading to Las Vegas, Nev., to face the UNLV Runnin' Rebels on Saturday night at 7:00 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast live on the Mountain West Digital Network.
Newspaper Box Score
San Jose State vs Air Force Falcons
01/07/15 7:00 pm at Clune Arena (USAF Academy, Colo.)
At Clune Arena (USAF Academy, Colo.)
AIR FORCE FALCONS 78, SAN JOSE STATE 56
SAN JOSE STATE (2-13 (0-3))
Muhammad, Rashad 10-18 0-0 26; Gaynor II, Darryl 4-8 1-2 11; Basor, Ivo 4-5
1-1 9; Thornton, Isaac 3-6 1-4 7; Williams, Jaleel 1-7 0-0 3; Singer, Ryan
0-1 0-0 0; Mahoney, Danny 0-3 0-0 0; Mitchell, Brandon 0-1 0-1 0. Totals
22-49 3-8 56.
AIR FORCE FALCONS (8-6 (1-2))
OLESINSKI, Marek 7-12 0-0 16; GRAHAM, Hayden 6-7 1-1 14; YON, Max 5-8 1-2
13; KOCUR, Zach 5-7 0-0 12; LYONS, Trevor 2-5 1-1 6; HAMMONDS, Justin 3-5
0-2 6; MOER, Zach 2-3 1-2 5; SIPLES, C.J. 2-3 0-0 4; VAN, Jacob 1-1 0-0 2;
MANNING, Ryan 0-2 0-0 0; TOOHEY, Frank 0-0 0-0 0; BROEKHUIS, Kyle 0-0 0-0 0;
JAMES, Dezmond 0-0 0-0 0; LUTES, Lake 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 33-54 4-8 78.
San Jose State................ 26 30 - 56
Air Force Falcons............. 37 41 - 78
3-point goals--San Jose State 9-27 (Muhammad, Rashad 6-12; Gaynor II, Darryl
2-4; Williams, Jaleel 1-4; Singer, Ryan 0-1; Mahoney, Danny 0-3; MITCHELL,
Brandon 0-1; Thornton, Isaac 0-2), Air Force Falcons 8-17 (YON, Max 2-3;
KOCUR, Zach 2-4; OLESINSKI, Marek 2-5; GRAHAM, Hayden 1-2; LYONS, Trevor
1-2; MANNING, Ryan 0-1). Fouled out--San Jose State-None, Air Force
Falcons-None. Rebounds--San Jose State 22 (Mitchell, Brandon 5), Air Force
Falcons 32 (YON, Max 6). Assists--San Jose State 11 (Thornton, Isaac 6), Air
Force Falcons 23 (KOCUR, Zach 5). Total fouls--San Jose State 13, Air Force
Falcons 13. Technical fouls--San Jose State-None, Air Force Falcons-None.
A-971