Nov. 29, 2017
Bowling Green, Ohio --- Facing a deficit as large as 20 points, the San José State men's basketball team clawed back but could never fully erase Bowling Green's lead in an 85-79 loss inside the Stroh Center.
San José State (2-4) allowed Bowling Green (6-2) to open up a 19-2 lead to begin the game, and trailed 48-32 at halftime. But the game was far from over at that point.
Down 58-39 with 16:27 to play in the second half Ryan Welage hit a three that sparked a 16-0 Spartan run over the next 4:08. Multiple Spartans joined Welage on the longest run of the 2017-18 season. Noah Baumann hit a 3-pointer, Keith Fisher slammed a dunk and Nai Carlisle hit clutch free throws facilitating the run.
Fisher's layup with 12:35 left made it 58-55 and then Bowling Green's Justin Turner stopped the bleeding with a jumper.
From there the game went down to the wire. The Spartans had plenty of chances to tie or go ahead of the Falcons as the clock counted down. However, that one play to get SJSU all the way over the hump never happened.
Carlisle hit a jumper to make it a two-point game with 8:24 left. After a stop on the defensive end, Baumann got a good look at a go-ahead three but couldn't get it to drop. Then Oumar Barry's layup with 5:02 remaining made it 69-66, but on the next BGSU trip Turner banged a three. Welage cashed a three from the top of the arc which made it 76-74 with 1:53 to go, but the Falcons made a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game once again.
Bowling Green finished the game 15-of-18 from the free throw line in the second half, which was a big reason why SJSU could never fully come back. The Spartans struggled from the line, hitting 9-of-15 in the second half and 14-of-23 for the game.
Ashtin Chastain finished with a double-double including career-highs of 10 points and 10 rebounds. Five of his rebounds were offensive boards helping the Spartans finish with 19 second-chance points.
Welage led San José State with 23 points in a rare performance coming off the bench. Five threes for Welage matched the total which he had all season coming into the game. Baumann and Carlisle both finished with 13 points and Barry added 12. All three are career-highs.
It's the first game since December 4, 2010, against UC Irvine in which the Spartans had five players in double-figure scoring against a Division I opponent.
Turner led Bowling Green with 27 points. Demajeo Wiggins scored 17 points, Derek Koch had 14 points and Rodrick Caldwell finished with 11 points to round out the double-figure scorers for the Falcons.
San José State continues the road trip on Saturday, December 2, at Southern Illinois. Tipoff in the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge game is set for 3:00 p.m. (CT).
Newspaper Box Score
San José State vs Bowling Green
11/29/17 7 pm at Bowling Green, Ohio (Stroh Center)
At Bowling Green, Ohio (Stroh Center)
BOWLING GREEN 85, SAN JOSé STATE 79
SAN JOSé STATE (2-4)
Welage, Ryan 8-18 2-2 23; Carlisle, Nai 4-7 4-4 13; Baumann, Noah 5-11 0-2
13; Barry, Oumar 6-8 0-2 12; Chastain, Ashtin 2-5 6-11 10; FISHER, Keith 3-6
2-2 8; Hillsman, Jaycee 0-2 0-0 0; James, Jalen 0-4 0-0 0; Simmons, Caleb
0-2 0-0 0; Parilla, Ryan 0-0 0-0 0; Nichols, Isaiah 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-63
14-23 79.
BOWLING GREEN (6-2)
TURNER, Justin 8-17 6-6 27; WIGGINS, Demajeo 6-12 5-7 17; KOCH, Derek 4-8
6-6 14; CALDWELL, Rodrick 3-9 3-4 11; FRYE, Dylan 2-10 3-4 9; PLOWDEN,
Daeqwon 1-1 0-0 3; CUMMINGS, Nelly 1-3 0-0 2; GADSON, Joniya 1-1 0-1 2; FOX,
Matt 0-1 0-0 0; UJU, Jeffrey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 23-28 85.
San José State................ 32 47 - 79
Bowling Green................. 48 37 - 85
3-point goals--San José State 9-21 (Welage, Ryan 5-10; Baumann, Noah 3-6;
Carlisle, Nai 1-1; Hillsman, Jaycee 0-1; James, Jalen 0-2; Simmons, Caleb
0-1), Bowling Green 10-26 (TURNER, Justin 5-7; CALDWELL, Rodrick 2-7; FRYE,
Dylan 2-7; PLOWDEN, Daeqwon 1-1; FOX, Matt 0-1; CUMMINGS, Nelly 0-1; KOCH,
Derek 0-2). Fouled out--San José State-BARRY, Oumar, Bowling Green-None.
Rebounds--San José State 49 (FISHER, Keith 11), Bowling Green 32 (WIGGINS,
Demajeo 12). Assists--San José State 14 (Carlisle, Nai 5), Bowling Green 15
(CALDWELL, Rodrick 5). Total fouls--San José State 24, Bowling Green 19.
Technical fouls--San José State-CHASTAIN, Ashtin, Bowling Green-None. A-1635