Nov. 17, 2016
Final Stats
San Jose, Calif.----- San José State forward Brandon Clarke posted his second consecutive double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and guard Jalen James also scored 13 points, but Denver University hung on for a 74-69 non-conference men's basketball victory.
The Spartans (1-2) had three chances in the final minute to tie the game at 72-72, but Isaac Thornton missed a 3-point field goal attempt from the right baseline with 51 seconds left in regulation and two turnovers in the final 10 seconds proved costly.
"This one hurts," said Spartans' head coach Dave Wojcik. "We didn't execute. And we didn't execute on the defensive side of the ball. They shot 67 percent from the field in the second half and we got out rebounded by 10. You can't beat teams when that happens."
The Pioneers sliced through San José State's press defense and Daniel Amigo finished with a dunk that put the Spartans down 72-65 with 2:09 remaining. Terrell Brown then made two highly contested layups in a row to bring the Spartans back within three points with 1:13 to go.
Thornton's potential game-tying 3-pointer came with 44 seconds left, but went off the iron. With 10 seconds remaining on a running clock, miscommunication between Clarke and Brown resulted in a bounce-pass intercepted by the Denver defender.
Denver guard Joe Rosga led all players with 15 points, 11 of them in the second half. Rosga, who scored 30 points in the Pioneers' opening game loss, had an opportunity to seal the win with 7.3 seconds to go, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1.
Coming out of the final timeout trailing 72-69 with 6.6 seconds remianing, the Spartans went the length of the floor and Cody Schwartz stepped out of bounds before he could hoist another potential game-tying 3-ball.
The Spartans made 40.3 percent of their field goal tries. They held their last lead, 59-58 with 8:33 remaining after forward Ryan Welage, who finished with 11 points, made his third 3-point basket of the game. Three consecutive Denver baskets put the Pioneers ahead for good.
James' 13 points matched his career-high in scoring for the second time this season.
Duke Douglas with 12 and Jake Pemberton with 10 also scored in double-figures for Denver (1-1). The Pioneers shot 66.7 percent in the second half and 56.0 percent for the game picking up their first win for new head coach Rodney Billups.
San José State led by as many as eight early in the first half, but trailed, 38-37, at halftime.
The Spartans were outrebounded, 36-26.
San José State returns to action Tuesday, November 22, at Saint Mary's in a 7:00 p.m. game.
Newspaper Box Score
Denver vs San Jose State
11/17/16 7:05 p.m. at The Event Center, San Jose, Calif.
At The Event Center, San Jose, Calif.
DENVER 74, SAN JOSE STATE 69
DENVER (1-1)
Joe Rosga 5-11 2-4 15; Duke Douglas 5-5 2-2 12; Jake Pemberton 3-4 3-4 10;
Daniel Amigo 3-5 1-2 7; Thomas Neff 1-3 4-4 6; C.J. Bobbitt 3-7 0-1 6;
Abiola Akintola 3-4 0-0 6; Christian Mackey 2-3 2-2 6; Jake Krafka 2-5 0-0
4; Bradley George 1-2 0-0 2; Ade Murkey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-50 14-19 74.
SAN JOSE STATE (1-2)
James, Jalen 5-12 0-1 13; Clarke, Brandon 6-10 1-2 13; Welage, Ryan 4-8 0-0
11; Hillsman, Jaycee 2-5 4-4 8; Nichols, Isaiah 3-6 0-0 7; Brown, Terrell
2-4 2-2 6; Thornton, Isaac 1-6 3-4 5; WILLIAMS, JR. GARY 0-4 2-3 2;
Mitchell, Brandon 1-1 0-0 2; Schwartz, Cody 1-3 0-0 2; Chastain, Ashtin 0-0
0-0 0; Boyce, E.J. 0-1 0-0 0; Singer, Ryan 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-62 12-16 69.
Denver........................ 38 36 - 74
San Jose State................ 37 32 - 69
3-point goals--Denver 4-14 (Joe Rosga 3-6; Jake Pemberton 1-2; Thomas Neff
0-1; C.J. Bobbitt 0-2; Jake Krafka 0-3), San Jose State 7-20 (Welage, Ryan
3-5; James, Jalen 3-7; Nichols, Isaiah 1-1; Thornton, Isaac 0-2; SCHWARTZ,
Cody 0-2; Boyce, E.J. 0-1; Hillsman, Jaycee 0-2). Fouled out--Denver-None,
San Jose State-None. Rebounds--Denver 36 (Christian Mackey 5; Daniel Amigo
5; C.J. Bobbitt 5), San Jose State 26 (Clarke, Brandon 10). Assists--Denver
18 (Jake Pemberton 7), San Jose State 14 (James, Jalen 3; Thornton, Isaac
3). Total fouls--Denver 21, San Jose State 19. Technical fouls--Denver-None,
San Jose State-None. A-1481