Air Force Academy
San Jose State
San Jose State downs Air Force, 89-85
1/14/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Brandon Clarke scored 36 points to lead San Jose State past Air Force, 89-85, Saturday afternoon in a Mountain West Conference game at the Academy.
Jalen James hit two free throws with 19 seconds left to give San Jose State an 87-83 lead. Following a pair of free throws by Trevor Lyons with 12 seconds left to make it a two-point game, the Falcons forced a turnover with 11 seconds left. On the next possession, Lyons drove the lane and dished off to Lavelle Scottie, but his short jumper was blocked by Clarke. Brandon Mitchell then made a steal on the rebound and passed it ahead to Clarke, who ended the game with a dunk to make up the final margin.
Clarke added five rebounds, five assists and five blocked shots to his scoring effort. Cody Schwartz and E.J. Boyce each added 14 points while Ryan Welage chipped in with 10 points for the Spartans. San Jose State finished the game shooting 60.7 percent from the field, including 47.6 from three. The Spartans also hit 11 of 13 free throws, including four straight with under a minute to play.
Air Force shot a season-high 57.1 percent from the field, but just 35.3 three 3-point territory. The Falcons out-rebounded San Jose State, 26-22, and had 18 assists on 28 field goals. Lyons scored a career-high 24 points and had four assists to lead the Falcons. His 24 points are the most by a Falcon this season. Hayden Graham added 19 points and a team-high six rebounds. Frank Toohey had 17 points while Jacob Van chipped in with 12 points and four assists.
The game was back and forth throughout and featured 15 lead changes and eight ties. The last lead change came on a hoop by Clarke with 5:15 remaining to give San Jose State a 72-71 lead.
"I loved our effort tonight, but we didn't get enough stops. Our effort on the defensive end was good, but our execution was not," Air Force head coach Dave Pilipovich said. "We told our team whoever gets the last stop is going to win the game and they came up with it. I think it was a great game for fans to watch. We could have folded with two and half minutes to play, but we didn't. We fought back and had a chance."
San Jose State improved to 9-7 overall and 2-3 in the conference. Air Force fell to 9-9 overall and 2-3 in Mountain West play.
