With 4:43 remaining and down 12 points, the San José State men’s basketball team was carried by its home crowd and guard Latrell Davis, mounting a furious comeback.
Davis hit a clutch 3-pointer to ignite the Spartans’ offense and hit 4 consecutive free throws to cut the Rambler's lead to 71-70 with 1:26 remaining in the second half.
The No. 4 seed Spartans stepped onto the National Invitational Tournament (NIT) stage for the first time since 1981 against the visiting Loyola University Chicago at home and suffered a 73-70 defeat.
The Ramblers committed 15 turnovers in the game and the Spartans capitalized, scoring 20 points off of those turnovers.
SJSU head coach Tim Miles went into the contest knowing that for guards Donavan Yap, Jr. and Josh Uduje, yesterday’s game may have been their final chance to play with each other.
Yap’s game-high 3 steals led the team defensively and showed their tenacity, with all of those steals coming in the second half when the Spartans made their run.
“We wanted to come out more physical in the second half and speed them up a little bit,” Yap said. “Not let them be comfortable with their offense. We stuck to the game plan, basically.”
However, Miles said his team finished on a positive note.
“Great job battling back,” Miles said. “We played some outstanding physical defense in the second half. What a great college atmosphere. That’s what San José State can be. These guys really rallied. I thought we had our chances. We just didn’t quite do enough to get up on top.”
Uduje led the way offensively for the Spartans, scoring 20 points in 35 minutes.
Although Loyola guard Des Watson stole the show, tallying 24 points, he couldn’t stop raving about Uduje.
“We know (Uduje) is a freak athlete,” Watson said. “He loves space and he loves physicality. We messed up (defensively) on him. We tried to stop him from getting out in transition. He’s a freak athlete in transition.”
The Spartans finished the contest with four players in double digits Yap, Sadaidriene Hall, Uduje and Davis.
The game started out in a fast-paced shootout, as the Spartans started 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, while the Ramblers countered with 4-for-7.
However, with the Spartans’ toughness and physicality, they were able to hold the Ramblers to 4-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc and tie the game at 24-24 with 7:35 left in the first half.
SJSU showed tenacity offensively, attacking the basket, generating layup opportunities and getting fouled. The Spartans scored 14 points in the paint on 5-for-13 shooting at the rim.
Meanwhile, the Ramblers scored 18 points in the paint on 4-for-6 at the rim.
Despite the blistering pace, both teams took care of the ball which resulted in a low turnover percentage. The Spartans turned the ball over at 10.3% while the Ramblers turned the ball at a 16.7% rate.
Loyola showed their versatility and depth, outscoring the SJSU 13-6 on bench points as the Ramblers took a 42-35 advantage going into halftime.
The Ramblers, in the second half, came out of the gates with physicality on both ends, intimidating a Spartans team struggling to find a rhythm offensively.
Spartans forward Robert Vaihola grabbed his 230th rebound of the season with 12:40 remaining in the second half. Vaihola finished with a total of 9 rebounds, matching Loyola forward Francis Nwaokorie.
“I would say (to the team) enjoy it while it lasts,” Yap said. “For this time to be my last, there’s a lot of feelings. To the younger guys, enjoy yourself, enjoy the atmosphere, enjoy the community.”
With the Spartans season now over they finished 15-20 record and a 7-13 record in the Mountain West Conference (MWC).
