SAN JOSE, Calif. – San Jose State men's basketball erased an eight-point halftime deficit and were tied with Colorado State with just over 4:00 minutes to play, but were unable to hold off the Rams as the Spartans fell 81-70 Saturday afternoon at the Provident Credit Union Event Center.
The loss put an end to the Spartans' three-game home win streak, their longest since the 2016-17 season. SJSU drops to 6-12 and 2-4 in league play.
Trailing 64-57 with 5:10 remaining, Eduardo Lane scored in the paint on a putback to spark a 7-0 Spartan run. Knight capped the run with a corner trey to tie the game at 64-64 with 4:02 left. Unfortunately, Colorado State responded with an 8-0 run of their own, capped by a 3-ball from Kendle Moore with 1:42 on the clock.
With an eight-point advantage, the Rams (11-7, 2-3) were able to hit free throws for the remainder of the contest to close the door. The Spartans finished the half shooting 36 percent and finished the night at a 35 percent clip (24-of-68).
After trading blows out the gate, Colorado State used a late 12-3 run in the first half to try to take control of the contest. The Spartans had different thoughts and knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers by Christian Anigwe and Seneca Knight with under two minutes to play kept the game within reach as the Spartans headed to the locker room down 36-29. SJSU shot 34 percent (11-of-32) while the Rams hit 14-of-32 (44 percent) in the opening half.
Coming out of the break, the teams continued to exchange blows until a 3-ball by Trey Smith, his first bucket since Dec. 14 against Stanford, knocked the lead down to two with 13:33 left. The Rams then regained their seven-point lead and held onto it until the late Spartan run to tie it.
Knight finished in double figures for the 14th game of this season and for the 10th time in the last 11 games. The Lafayette, Louisiana product scored 21 points and had eight rebounds for his second-straight game with 20 points. Brae Ivey scored 13 and Anigwe added 12 with seven boards.
David Roddy and Isaiah Stevens each scored 21 points to lead Colorado State. The Rams won the rebounding battle 49-35 with Nico Carvacho leading the way with a game-high 16 boards.
The Spartans return to the hardwood on Wednesday, January 15, against UNLV in Las Vegas.