March 3, 2018
USAFA, Colo. --- The San José State men's basketball team had no answer for the long-range firepower of Air Force and the Spartans lost to the Falcons 83-61 in the regular season finale inside Clune Arena.
San José State (4-25, 1-17 MW) has been allowing opponents to shoot 3-pointers at record volumes while guarding against inside shots. SJSU applied the same strategy Saturday against the Mountain West's lowest three-point field goal shooting team in Air Force (32.2 percent).
But the Falcons (12-18, 6-12 MW) nailed 10-of-18 in the first half and built a lead as large as 24 points before halftime. Senior Jacob Van was one of six Air Force seniors honored before the game, then he came out and hit 4-of-5 three-point attempts in the opening period.
Air Force cooled off from downtown as the game went on, finishing 16-for-41 (39.0 percent), but the volume was simply too much to overcome for SJSU. The Spartans were cold from the start and finished the game making 23-of-60 (38.3) from the field and 8-of-24 (33.3) from downtown.
It is the third time in five games that SJSU has allowed the opponent to attempt more than 40 3-pointers.
Keith Fisher III scored 18 points to lead the Spartans, 14 of which came in the first 20 minutes. Jaycee Hillsman added 10 points to round out the double-figure scorers for SJSU.
Van led all scorers with 23 points. Sid Tomes finished the game with 11 points for Air Force.
San José State will play as the 11-seed next week on Wednesday in the opening round game of the Mountain West Tournament. The Spartans will take on either Wyoming or San Diego State depending on the results of today's action around the league. Tipoff for the game at the Thomas & Mack Center is set for 4:00 p.m. (PT).
Newspaper Box Score
San José State vs Air Force
3/3/18 2:05 PM MT at Clune Arena, (USAF Academy, Colo.)
At Clune Arena, (USAF Academy, Colo.)
AIR FORCE 83, SAN JOSé STATE 61
SAN JOSé STATE (4-25, 1-17)
FISHER, Keith 8-17 2-6 18; Hillsman, Jaycee 4-8 0-0 10; Welage, Ryan 3-12
1-2 8; James, Jalen 2-7 2-2 7; Simmons, Caleb 2-3 0-0 6; Baumann, Noah 2-7
0-0 6; Chastain, Ashtin 1-1 2-2 4; Nichols, Isaiah 1-4 0-0 2; Barry, Oumar
0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-60 7-12 61.
AIR FORCE (12-18, 6-12)
VAN, Jacob 7-12 3-4 23; TOMES, Sid 4-7 0-0 11; LYONS, Trevor 4-9 0-0 9;
TOOHEY, Frank 2-5 3-4 9; SWAN, Ryan 2-3 4-4 8; SCOTTIE, Lavelle 3-9 0-1 7;
MORRIS, Caleb 3-5 0-0 7; MANNING, Ryan 2-8 0-0 6; JOYCE, Chris 1-2 0-0 2;
NORMAN, Dane 0-1 1-2 1; DEWANE, Jonathan 0-0 0-0 0; SIPLES, CJ 0-2 0-0 0;
AKAYA, Ameka 0-0 0-0 0; BROWN, LeSean 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 28-64 11-17 83.
San José State................ 28 33 - 61
Air Force..................... 50 33 - 83
3-point goals--San José State 8-24 (Simmons, Caleb 2-3; Hillsman, Jaycee
2-4; Baumann, Noah 2-6; James, Jalen 1-4; Welage, Ryan 1-4; Nichols, Isaiah
0-3), Air Force 16-41 (VAN, Jacob 6-10; TOMES, Sid 3-5; MANNING, Ryan 2-7;
TOOHEY, Frank 2-3; LYONS, Trevor 1-2; SCOTTIE, Lavelle 1-6; MORRIS, Caleb
1-3; BROWN, LeSean 0-1; NORMAN, Dane 0-1; JOYCE, Chris 0-1; SWAN, Ryan 0-1;
SIPLES, CJ 0-1). Fouled out--San José State-BARRY, Oumar, Air Force-None.
Rebounds--San José State 36 (FISHER, Keith 8), Air Force 44 (LYONS, Trevor
13). Assists--San José State 13 (Baumann, Noah 3; Hillsman, Jaycee 3), Air
Force 21 (VAN, Jacob 7). Total fouls--San José State 21, Air Force 16.
Technical fouls--San José State-None, Air Force-None. A-3018