Nov. 27, 2015
Anchorage, Alaska --- Four Spartans finished in double-figures scoring, led by Frank Rogers' career-high 18 points, and the San José State men's basketball team defeated San Diego 76-67 in the GCI Great Alaska Shootout consolation semifinal on Friday.Rogers added another career-best, 14 rebounds, to notch his second double-double of the season. His three-ball and a pair of makes from the free throw line were a few of the many clutch plays San José State (2-3) made to win the game."Our seniors did what they are supposed to do down the stretch, make plays," said Spartans' head coach Dave Wojcik. "Frank and Princeton made plays and I'm especially proud of Princeton for an excellent day on assists to turnovers."Seven assists for Princeton Onwas extended his career-high for the second game in a row. It was Onwas' dish to the right corner which Rogers took and buried for the three to give SJSU a 67-61 advantage at the 2:03 mark. Onwas turned the ball over just once, and San José State as a team finished with 21 assists to a season-low seven turnovers.Onwas knocked down a pair of free throws with 20 seconds remaining to put the Spartans up 73-67. Another make from the stripe and a dunk by Brandon Clarke in the final seconds sealed the victory."It was a great team effort, especially by our bench," Wojcik said. "Leon Bahner played a significant role with his defense, and Isaac played extremely well today. We didn't quite have the energy when we started the game, but when we put him in things got started for us."Thornton led the charge for the San José State bench, which finished with a season-high 31 points. Bahner came in and knocked down two inside shots while also coming up with two blocks and a steal, all in the first 20 minutes. Their aggressive play helped neutralize USD's five hits from beyond the arc in the first half.The Spartans and Toreros (0-5) were deadlocked at 33 heading into the halftime locker room.Thornton kept it rolling in the second half. He knocked down a three with 9:54 left, which was part of an 8-1 run to put the Spartans back in front."When I come in the game I just try to bring energy defensively, and try and turn that into easy baskets," Thornton said. "That's my role. Come in and be aggressive on defense and today, that translated into offense."Thornton matched a career-high with 15 points and had four assists with three rebounds.Gary Williams, Jr., hit a jumper with 7:12 left to put the Spartans up 57-55, and SJSU never relinquished the lead again. Williams would answer two more San Diego baskets with layups in the last four minutes. He ended with eight points.San José State takes on Shootout host Alaska Anchorage tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. AKT in the consolation final.
Newspaper Box Score
San José State vs San Diego
11/27/15 Noon at Alaska Airlines Center - Anchorage, AK
At Alaska Airlines Center - Anchorage, AK
SAN JOSé STATE 76, SAN DIEGO 67
SAN JOSé STATE (2-3)
Rogers, Frank 6-11 4-6 18; Thornton, Isaac 3-5 7-12 15; Onwas, Princeton
4-11 2-3 10; Welage, Ryan 4-8 1-1 10; Williams, Jr., Gary 4-9 0-0 8; JAMES,
Jalen 2-4 2-2 7; Bahner, Leon 2-2 0-0 4; Clarke, Brandon 2-3 0-0 4;
Schwartz, Cody 0-2 0-0 0; Basor, Ivo 0-1 0-0 0; Hillsman, Jaycee 0-3 0-0 0.
Totals 27-59 16-24 76.
SAN DIEGO (0-5)
Sanadze, Duda 8-16 2-3 21; Bailey, Brett 2-7 6-8 10; Carter III, Olin 3-7
0-2 8; Perry, Brandon 3-4 2-4 8; Kok, Jito 3-5 1-2 7; Harris, Marcus 1-3 3-4
6; Pusica, Vasa 3-6 0-0 6; Williams, Tyler 0-2 1-3 1; Bedart-Ghani, Khalil
0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 15-26 67.
San José State 38 38 76
San Diego 38 29 67
3-point goals--San José State 6-20 (Thornton, Isaac 2-3; Rogers, Frank 2-4;
Welage, Ryan 1-2; James, Jalen 1-2; Schwartz, Cody 0-2; Hillsman, Jaycee
0-1; Williams, Jr., Gary 0-2; Onwas, Princeton 0-4), San Diego 6-19
(Sanadze, Duda 3-9; Carter III, Olin 2-4; Harris, Marcus 1-1; Pusica, Vasa
0-1; Williams, Tyler 0-2; Bailey, Brett 0-2). Fouled out--San José
State-None, San Diego-None. Rebounds--San José State 33 (Rogers, Frank 14),
San Diego 34 (Bailey, Brett 8). Assists--San José State 21 (Onwas, Princeton
7), San Diego 12 (Bailey, Brett 3). Total fouls--San José State 18, San
Diego 20. Technical fouls--San José State-None, San Diego-None. A-2379
Game 5: GCI Great Alaska Shootout (consolation semifinal #1)
GCI Player of the Game: F. Rogers (SJ)