Nov. 22, 2016
Moraga, Calif. --- Time and time again in his young career at San Jose State, Ryan Welage has stepped up for his best games on the biggest stages.
Tuesday night at No. 15 Saint Mary's was no different for him as the sophomore came out and hit his first five shots in front of a packed house on the road. Welage ended the game with a season-high 17 points, but the Gaels ran away with 81-64 victory over the Spartans inside McKeon Pavilion.
Jaycee Hillsman's 12 first-half points were also a big part of the nip-and-tuck first half between the Spartans (1-3) and Gaels (4-0). Hillsman hit all seven of his free throws and knocked down his first 3-pointer of the year.
A transition layup by Jalen James with 8:46 left in the first half tied the game, 21-21. Later, Brandon Clarke sunk a pair from the line which gave the Spartans a 26-25 lead at the 7:02 mark. Despite a seemingly good defensive effort by SJSU, Saint Mary's still shot 60.7 percent from the floor in the opening period and took a 43-40 lead into halftime.
The game hinged on a series of plays at the 14:01 mark in the second half with Saint Mary's leading 54-51. Clarke picked up his third personal foul on Jock Landale's drive to the basket, and was whistled for a technical foul seconds later.
Clarke went to the bench with four personals, and four straight points from the foul line was the result, which jump-started an 18-2 run over the next 4:15.
Landale finished with 24 points and seven rebounds to lead the Gaels. Calvin Hermanson and Naar each finished with 16 points.
Welage led all Spartans with 17 points, six rebounds and did not turn the ball over in 36 minutes of work. Welage has a history of performing on the road on a big stage - His two career-best scoring efforts are 28 points at San Diego State and 26 points at Fresno State.
Hillsman finished with a new career-high of 16 points, and Clarke finished with 14 points.
The Spartans return to action on Sunday, November 27, at Washington State.
Newspaper Box Score
San Jose State vs Saint Mary's (CA)
11/22/16 7:00 PM at Moraga, CA
At Moraga, CA
SAINT MARY'S (CA) 81, SAN JOSE STATE 64
SAN JOSE STATE (1-3)
Welage, Ryan 7-15 0-0 17; Hillsman, Jaycee 4-6 7-7 16; Clarke, Brandon 5-11
4-5 14; James, Jalen 4-8 0-0 8; Nichols, Isaiah 2-5 0-0 4; Boyce, E.J. 1-4
0-0 3; Thornton, Isaac 1-3 0-0 2; Schwartz, Cody 0-2 0-0 0; Singer, Ryan 0-0
0-0 0; Mitchell, Brandon 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-55 11-12 64.
SAINT MARY'S (CA) (4-0)
Landale,Jock 9-10 6-7 24; Hermanson,Calvin 6-10 0-0 16; Naar,Emmett 5-6 4-4
16; Rahon,Joe 4-8 0-0 8; Clark,Kyle 3-7 1-1 8; Gonzalez,Stefan 2-6 1-2 7;
Hunter,Jordan 1-1 0-0 2; Krebs,Tanner 0-4 0-0 0; Ford,Jordan 0-1 0-0 0;
Fitzner,Evan 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-54 12-14 81.
San Jose State................ 40 24 - 64
Saint Mary's (CA)............. 43 38 - 81
3-point goals--San Jose State 5-16 (Welage, Ryan 3-5; Hillsman, Jaycee 1-2;
Boyce, E.J. 1-3; Nichols, Isaiah 0-2; Thornton, Isaac 0-1; Schwartz, Cody
0-1; Mitchell, Brandon 0-1; James, Jalen 0-1), Saint Mary's (CA) 9-26
(Hermanson,Calvin 4-7; Naar,Emmett 2-2; Gonzalez,Stefan 2-6; Clark,Kyle 1-5;
Krebs,Tanner 0-3; Ford,Jordan 0-1; Fitzner,Evan 0-1; Rahon,Joe 0-1). Fouled
out--San Jose State-None, Saint Mary's (CA)-None. Rebounds--San Jose State
26 (Hillsman, Jaycee 6; Welage, Ryan 6), Saint Mary's (CA) 31 (Landale,Jock
7). Assists--San Jose State 8 (Clarke, Brandon 2; Schwartz, Cody 2; JAMES,
Jalen 2), Saint Mary's (CA) 16 (Rahon,Joe 7). Total fouls--San Jose State
16, Saint Mary's (CA) 16. Technical fouls--San Jose State-CLARKE, Brandon,
Saint Mary's (CA)-None. A-3178
SJSU #15: Technical Foul at 14:01 of 2nd Half