Dec. 5, 2017
Denver, Colo. --- The San José State men's basketball team staged a second-half comeback on the road at the University of Denver but Ryan Welage's potential game-tying jumper fell short as time expired and the Spartans suffered a 58-56 loss.
San José State (2-6) didn't allow Denver (4-5) to make a basket during the last four minutes of the game. SJSU held the Pioneers to 4-for-22 (18.2 percent) shooting in the second half. However, the Spartans missed their last four shots in the final 34 seconds of the game. All of which came while trailing by two or less.
The Spartans trailed by as many as 20 in the first half when they shot 7-of-23 (30 percent) from the floor. But slowly throughout the second period SJSU chipped away at Denver's lead until at the 5:09 mark Ryan Welage's 3-pointer evened the score, 49-49.
During the comeback multiple Spartans combined for short bursts of scoring. Oumar Barry made a layup with 14:07 to go which made it 40-28 Denver lead. On the next Pioneers possession Noah Baumann stole the ball and pitched it back to Nai Carlisle on the break for the hoop and the harm. After Carlisle converted the free throw it was a single-digit game for the first time since the 12:12 mark in the first half.
Later, Keith Fisher III's layup and Noah Baumann's three on back-to-back possessions cut the lead to seven points, 42-35 with 10:57 to play. After Denver built a five-point cushion, Noah Baumann swished a 3-pointer to make it 56-54 with 2:31 to go.
Welage made a layup with 1:19 left to play which made it 57-56 Pioneers, and that would be SJSU's last basket of the game.
San José State finished the game shooting 20-for-53 (37.7) while Denver shot just 17-for-54 (31.5 percent). The Spartans were 11-for-18 (61.1 percent) from the foul line and Denver made 16-of-23 (69.6 percent). SJSU edged the Pioneers in rebounding, 37-35.
Welage's 12 points were a team high for SJSU. Nai Carlisle finished with 11 points, five rebounds and three assists. Fisher and Barry both finished with 10 points.
Denver's Joe Rosga scored a game-high 23 points and his teammate Jake Pemberton scored 20 points. Daniel Amigo finished with 13 points to round out the Pioneers' double-figure scorers.
Tuesday's game ends a three-game road trip that has sent the Spartans through five states and over 4,600 miles. The next game is on Saturday, December 9, at Portland.
Newspaper Box Score
San José State vs Denver
12/5/17 7:00 PM at Denver, Colo.
At Denver, Colo.
DENVER 58, SAN JOSé STATE 56
SAN JOSé STATE (2-6)
Welage, Ryan 5-15 0-1 12; Carlisle, Nai 3-8 5-5 11; FISHER, Keith 4-5 2-4
10; Barry, Oumar 4-9 2-5 10; Baumann, Noah 3-7 0-0 8; Nichols, Isaiah 1-3
2-3 5; James, Jalen 0-1 0-0 0; Hillsman, Jaycee 0-3 0-0 0; Chastain, Ashtin
0-2 0-0 0. Totals 20-53 11-18 56.
DENVER (4-5)
Rosga,Joe 7-16 4-4 23; Pemberton,Jake 5-10 7-8 20; Amigo,Daniel 4-12 5-9 13;
Murkey,Ade 1-6 0-2 2; Mackey,Christian 0-1 0-0 0; Rodriguez,Elvin 0-3 0-0 0;
Holtzmann,Jake 0-1 0-0 0; Carlisle,Donoven 0-1 0-0 0; Akintola,Abiola 0-2
0-0 0; Krafka,Jake 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 17-54 16-23 58.
San José State................ 18 38 - 56
Denver........................ 33 25 - 58
3-point goals--San José State 5-17 (Welage, Ryan 2-7; Baumann, Noah 2-5;
Nichols, Isaiah 1-3; James, Jalen 0-1; Hillsman, Jaycee 0-1), Denver 8-19
(Rosga,Joe 5-10; Pemberton,Jake 3-5; Rodriguez,Elvin 0-2; Holtzmann,Jake
0-1; Krafka,Jake 0-1). Fouled out--San José State-None, Denver-Krafka,Jake.
Rebounds--San José State 37 (Nichols, Isaiah 8), Denver 35 (Krafka,Jake 7).
Assists--San José State 8 (Carlisle, Nai 4), Denver 14 (Amigo,Daniel 5).
Total fouls--San José State 20, Denver 19. Technical fouls--San José
State-None, Denver-None. A-1028
Flagrent Foul SJSU #20 (1:40, 2nd half)