San Jose State tops LA TECH 64-62

The play-in game is a done deal but not without its share of excitement. Here's what we wrote about it for another site:

Oh my, if you didn't have a heart condition before this game, you probably do now.

San Jose State led 64-62 with 21.8 seconds remaining after Justin Graham hit just one of two free throws. The Bulldogs brought the ball down but couldn't get a good look and the Spartans fouled with 5.2 seconds on the clock. It was an intentional foul in the sense that SJSU still had fouls to give before LTU would enter the bonus.

Tech then called timeout and on the in-bounds play, Dwayne Lathen missed inside and a Bulldog tip also was errant. San Jose rebounded and that was it. SJSU played zone almost the entire game but went man-to-man at the very end.

DaShawn Wright led with 17 points (8-11 shooting) and six rebounds, followed by Tim Pierce with 16. C.J. Webster added 13 and Chris Oakes 11.

The score was 54-54 at the 6:51 mark. The Techsters jumped ahead by four, 54-50, but San Jose State scored the next eight points. LTU then fought back and went ahead but a Webster bucket made it 60-60 with 2:55 remaining.

A Wright 12-footer in the lane gave the Spartan a 62-60 lead but Drew Washington's layup tied the score yet again.

Pierce made one of two free throws and JC Clark missed on a scoop shot leading to the aforementioned foul that put Justin Graham on the foul line with 21.8 ticks left.

The first half ended with the Spartans ahead by four points, 31-27. Tim Pierce led all scorers after 20 minutes with 13 points. Shooting-wise, SJSU went 12-29 overall, 1-5 on treys and 6-8 from the foul line. The Bulldogs numbers: 10-25 from the floor, 4-12 from long distance and 3-3 on free throws. San Jose State grabbed 19 rebounds, seven offensively, to 14 for LA TECH. LTU committed eight turnovers, the Spartans six.

For the game, San Jose State out-rebounded the Techsters 38-25. Pierce grabbed nine while Webster and Oakes nabbed seven apiece.

Clark was the en fuego Bulldog from long distance tonight, nailing 5-7 three-point attempts leading to his 17 points -- this from a player shooting 31% on treys coming into the game. As a team, LTU was shooting 32% from three-point range coming into tonight's game but concluded this one 12-26, taking close to half its 55 shots from long range. LA TECH's season leading scorer Kyle Gibson had 14, a couple below his average and dramatic improvement over the 25 and 28 point totals he had managed against SJSU earlier this season. Both Gibson and Clark played the entire 40 minutes.

Last Saturday, the Bulldogs went 23-31 from the foul line, getting dribble-drive penetration far too often. Tonight they went 4-4. Yes, you read that correctly.

Overall, San Jose State went 26-55 from the floor, 11-15 from the foul line and 1-9 on threes.