Air Force men’s basketball will have to wait another game for a chance to earn its first conference win.
The Falcons almost managed to erase an 11-point deficit in the second half and were within four points within 21 seconds left, but 4 for 4 free throws from the Spartans earned San Jose State a 70-62 win at home Tuesday night. It is San Jose State’s first conference win of the season, while Air Force (3-14) falls to 0-6 in Mountain West play.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Pasha Goodarzi and Adrian Myers put the Spartans up 62-51 with 3 minutes left in the contest, but Air Force responded with a 6-0 run to make the score 64-59 with 30 seconds left. San Jose State drew fouls on Eli Robinson and Lucas Hobin and went perfect from the foul line to secure the win.
The second half also saw a confusing moment when Air Force got the and 1 call for a bucket and foul, but the shot clock froze, and after review, it was ruled a shot-clock violation on the Falcons.
Freshman Lucas Hobin led three Falcons in double digits with 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting. San Jose State guard Ben Roseborough led four Spartans in double figures with 19 points and Adrian Myers had 15 points, seven rebounds and went 6 for 6 from the foul line.
After shooting 26% from the field in the first half, the Falcons improved to 62.5% in the second half to finish with 45% shooting overall and 80% (12 for 15) from the foul line. The Spartans shot 47% overall.
San Jose State (6-11, 1-5) led for 15 minutes and 30 seconds of a sluggish first half to lead 27-21 into the locker room. The Spartans led by as many as eight points (25-17) in the last two minutes and held the Falcons scoreless for nearly seven minutes in the first half.
Air Force returns to Clune Arena on Saturday to host Nevada at 2 p.m.