Nov. 18, 2015
SJSU KEEPS IT IN THE BIG SKY; HEADS TO MONTANA STATE
Fresh off of a 64-61 win against Montana, the San José State men's basketball team heads on the road for the first time in 2015-16 to face the Montana State Bobcats Friday night at 8:05 p.m. MST. Video streaming will be available for the game which can be accessed using the link below.
GAME #3
San José State Spartans (1-1) at Montana State Bobcats (1-2)
Friday, November 20, 2015, 8:05 p.m. MST
Worthington Arena (7,000)
Bozeman, Mont.
LIVE VIDEO
POISE DOWN THE STRETCH LEADS TO VICTORY OVER MONTANA
San José State had its lead cut down to one point on multiple occasions in the second half versus Montana, but that lead was never relinquished. The Spartans hit six of their last eight free throws in the contest, and got a huge basket from Frank Rogers (6-9, Sr., Salinas, Calif.) at the 1:23 mark. Princeton Onwas (6-7, Sr., Houston, Texas) sealed the game with his transition dunk with 12 seconds left to make it 64-61. Montana missed a desperation three-point attempt at the buzzer.
WHAT THE WIN MEANSMonday's win over Montana was San José State's first against a Division I opponent since a win at Nevada on February 18, 2014. It snapped a losing streak of 21 games dating back to last season, and a 10-game losing streak at The Event Center. Beyond all of that, Montana won 22 games last season and was an NIT team. Prior to facing the Spartans, the Grizzlies defeated Boise State, which was predicted to finish second in the Mountain West by the conference's media poll.SPARTANS TURN TO ROGERS DOWN THE STRETCHIn the final five minutes of Monday's win, Frank Rogers scored five points, hit three of four free throws and grabbed two huge offensive rebounds. One of his offensive boards led to a put-back which put the Spartans up 62-59 with 1:23 left to play. Rogers was there to answer back twice after Montana cut SJSU's lead down to one in the final five minutes. He finished with a game-high 16 points and 10 rebounds.TWO GAMES, TWO DOUBLE-DOUBLES FOR WELAGERyan Welage (6-9, Fr., Greensburg, Ind.) has made a splash in his first two games as a Spartan with double-doubles against Idaho and Montana. He was SJSU's leading scorer versus the Vandals with 15 points to go along with 10 rebounds. He would match his rebound total in the second game against Montana where he also added 10 points. Welage is one of three Mountain West players with two double-doubles in the early goings, alongside Fresno State's Torren Jones and Nevada's AJ West.SPARTANS TURN THE TABLES ON REBOUNDING VERSUS MONTANATwo nights after being outrebounded 42-32 by Idaho, San José State grabbed 46 boards against Montana's 29. Frank Rogers and Ryan Welage ended with 10 boards a piece, and Cody Schwartz (6-9, Fr., West De Pere, Wis.) and Princeton Onwas both grabbed six. Brandon Clarke added four to the total, three of which came on the offensive glass. The Spartans had 11 offensive rebounds in the game.MORE ON MONTANA STATEThe Big Sky member Montana State Bobcats are 1-2 this season, with a win over Hawai'i-Hilo and losses to Hawai'i and most recently, Nevada. Marcus Colbert, at 12.7 points per game, is MSU's early scoring leader. As a team, the Bobcats are averaging 76.0 points per game while SJSU is averaging 59.0 points. The Spartans and Bobcats had their first clash on December 19, 1936, which ended in a 51-37 win for Montana State. The last meeting was in Bozeman on December 1, 2012, when the Spartans won 82-74. SJSU controls the all-time series versus MSU, 7-4.