Jan. 13, 2016
San Jose, Calif.----- Gary Williams, Jr., went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 1:27 to give the San Jose State University men's basketball team its first Mountain West victory in nearly two years outlasting the University of Wyoming, 62-55."I'm thrilled for our guys," said Spartans' head coach Dave Wojcik. "We've been banging on the door and we knocked it down a little bit tonight. We played through serious foul trouble throughout almost the entire second half. Brandon Clarke was terrific tonight, and Gary Williams played well. It was just a good team effort, and I'm really proud of them."Williams, Jr., led the Spartans (6-11, 1-4 Mountain West) with a season-scoring high of 18 points, including San Jose State's last 10 points over the final 5:14 of the game. With 2:48 left to play, Brandon Clarke forced a Josh Adams turnover, which turned into a Williams fast-break layup to make it 56-53 Spartans lead."It was a real hard grind it out game," Williams said. "Give props to Wyoming, they played hard. This is a well deserved win. We've all been working hard. Coach Wojcik has been doing his best, and so I think this is just well deserved by the whole staff and the team."Prior to defeating Wyoming, the Spartans' last conference victory was on February 18, 2014 at Nevada. San Jose State snapped a 27-game losing streak against conference opponents.The Spartans did not relinquish the lead after a basket by Frank Rogers at 12:25 in the first half. San Jose State led by as many as 13 points, 32-19 with 4:29 before halftime.San Jose State outrebounded Wyoming, 39-22, and survived 22 turnovers and team foul trouble the entire evening. Rogers exited the game with his fourth foul with 18:03 left to play in the second half, and Princeton Onwas exited for good with his fifth at the 4:43 mark.The Cowboys were able to stay in the game converting 15-of-22 free throws. The Spartans went to the free throw line 12 times, making nine including Williams' six at the end for the win.Ryan Welage, with 13, Rogers, 11, and Clarke, 10, also scored in double figures for the Spartans who led 34-23 at halftime.Alan Herndon led Wyoming (9-9, 2-3 Mountain West) in scoring with 14 points. Jason McManamen added 13. Josh Adams, fourth in the country in scoring with a 24.8 points per game average, was limited to a season-low 10 points.The Wyoming guard was 4-of-14 from the field and committed six turnovers. Two of the turnovers came in the final two minutes with the 6-foot-9 Clarke guarding the 6-foot-2 Cowboys' star. In all, four Spartans, Isaac Thornton, Onwas, Williams, Jr., and Clarke took turns guarding the Mountain West's leading scorer."We did a really good job," Wojcik said. "I really like that kid as a player and as a person too. He's got a competitive spirit about him. I thought our guys did a good job of knowing where he was at all times, especially in transition."San José State travels to Fresno State on Saturday, January 16, for a 4:00 p.m. tip.
Newspaper Box Score
Wyoming vs San José State
1/13/16 7:00 PM at San Jose, Calif. (The Event Center)
At San Jose, Calif. (The Event Center)
SAN JOSé STATE 62, WYOMING 55
WYOMING (9-9, 2-3 MW)
HERNDON, Alan 4-4 4-4 14; McMANAMEN, Jason 5-15 0-0 13; ADAMS, Josh 4-14 2-4
10; AKA GORSKI,Alexander 1-6 3-3 6; JAMES, Justin 1-3 2-2 4; WASHINGTON III,
Trey 2-3 0-1 4; LIEBERMAN, Jeremy 0-2 2-4 2; NAUGHTON, Jordan 0-0 2-4 2;
DALTON, Hayden 0-0 0-0 0; BARNES, Jonathan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 15-22 55.
SAN JOSé STATE (6-11, 1-4 MW)
Williams, Jr., Gary 5-11 6-7 18; Welage, Ryan 5-7 1-1 13; Rogers, Frank 4-6
1-2 11; Clarke, Brandon 5-8 0-1 10; Onwas, Princeton 3-5 1-1 7; SCHWARTZ,
Cody 1-6 0-0 3; Hillsman, Jaycee 0-4 0-0 0; Bahner, Leon 0-0 0-0 0;
Thornton, Isaac 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 9-12 62.
Wyoming....................... 23 32 - 55
San José State................ 34 28 - 62
3-point goals--Wyoming 6-22 (McMANAMEN, Jason 3-9; HERNDON, Alan 2-2; AKA
GORSKI,Alexander 1-3; LIEBERMAN, Jeremy 0-2; JAMES, Justin 0-1; ADAMS, Josh
0-5), San José State 7-23 (Rogers, Frank 2-3; Welage, Ryan 2-3; WILLIAMS,
JR., Gary 2-4; Schwartz, Cody 1-6; Hillsman, Jaycee 0-3; Thornton, Isaac
0-2; Onwas, Princeton 0-1; Clarke, Brandon 0-1). Fouled out--Wyoming-None,
San José State-ONWAS, Princeton. Rebounds--Wyoming 22 (AKA GORSKI,Alexander
5), San José State 39 (Welage, Ryan 7; Clarke, Brandon 7; WILLIAMS, JR.,
Gary 7). Assists--Wyoming 8 (ADAMS, Josh 4), San José State 13 (ONWAS,
Princeton 5). Total fouls--Wyoming 18, San José State 25. Technical
fouls--Wyoming-None, San José State-None. A-1395