BIMINI, The Bahamas – San José State men's basketball fell to CSU-Bakersfield, 73-72, in the second round of the Junkanoo Jam on Saturday at the Gateway Christian Academy. The Spartans led by 10 points with 3:45 to play, but were unable to prevent the CSU-Bakersfield comeback.
SJSU (1-3) saw its lead vanish as the Roadrunners went on an 8-0 run before Craig LeCesne stopped the bleeding with an open trey with 1:59 to play to hold a 66-64 advantage. CSU-Bakersfield answered, however with a 3-pointer of its own to take the lead outright at 67-64 with 1:33 on the clock.
Brae Ivey, who finished with a season-high 22 points, knocked down three free throws to tie the game at 69-69 with :43 seconds to play, but another Roadrunner trey, their 12th of the game, gave them the lead with :20 seconds remaining, which they held onto for the win.
In the loss, SJSU shot 53.7 percent from the floor (22-for-41) and hit 8-of-15 (53.3 percent) from 3-point range. Ivey was 5-for-8 from the floor and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc while also nailing all nine of his free throw attempts. LeCesne finished with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds while Michael Steadman and Isaiah Nichols each chipped in 10 points.
The Spartans were 20-for-24 from the free throw line and finished with 18 points in the paint. A key difference was the points off of turnovers which SJSU trailed, 30-16. They finished with 26 turnovers to CSU-Bakersfield's 15.
Jarkel Joiner led the Roadrunners (2-2) with 22 points and was 5-of-9 from 3-point range. CSU-Bakersfield was held to just 38.8 percent (26-of-67) from the floor, and was limited to three treys in the second half after scoring nine in the first half.
SJSU will wrap up their time in the Bahamas tomorrow in their final game of the Junkanoo Jam as they take on Central Michigan at 6:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. PT in Bimini.
