CSUB can't hold big lead, falls at San Jose State
| Monday, Jan 23 2012 10:41 PM
Last Updated Monday, Jan 23 2012 10:42 PM
SAN JOSE -- CSU Bakersfield was the hot team, San Jose State the cold team and the Roadrunners jumped out to a 19-point lead before Monday night's game was 9 minutes old.
It all turned around after that.
San Jose took its first lead just before halftime and put it away in the final 3 minutes in a 78-70 win that snapped the Roadrunners' four-game winning streak and ended the Spartans' five-game skid.
San Jose freshman D.J. Brown, in only his fourth career start, scored 33 points on 9-of-11 shooting (6-of-7 on 3s). He came into the game averaging 6.2 and his season high before Monday was 14.
"He kept them in the game," CSUB coach Rod Barnes said. "He hit some big shots."
CSUB (11-10) hit 10-of-15 shots, including 3-of-3 on 3s to build a 23-4 lead with 11:36 left before halftime.
"They got off to a great start against us," said San Jose coach George Nessman, who was head coach at Bakersfield College for two seasons in the early 2000s. "We were lethargic and their energy was really good."
The Roadrunners' shooting touch vanished after that. The Spartans (7-13) went on a 19-2 spurt over a 7:10 stretch to get back in it and San Jose got the go-ahead 3-pointer by Calvin Douglas with 30 seconds left in the first half to take a 36-35 halftime lead.
"We went through a stretch there where we turned the ball over on six of eight possessions, and you can't do that on the road," Barnes said.
CSUB guard Issiag Grayson, who had 14 points and seven assists added, "We all got comfortable with the lead. "We laid an egg out there. ... We got too complacent and lackadaisical. I'm at a loss for words right now."
Adam Young, who led CSUB with his season-high 17 points, scored 13 straight points Bakersfield over a 3:25 stretch to give the Roadrunners their biggest lead of the second half, 53-50, with 13:35 left.
Three of those were 3-pointers, two he fired up from just inside the 3-point line.
"Sometimes you just feel it," Young said. "I love this gym, I love the Nike ball (he said the Wilson ball is used at CSUB home games). I've been shooting the Nike ball since I was in seventh, eighth grade."
Mo Hughley's layup with 12:22 left gave the Roadrunners their final lead, 55-54. The Spartans scored 10 straight points after that. CSUB pulled within 71-68 on Grayson's three-point play with 2:05 remaining, but the Spartans hit a 3 and were 6-for-6 on free throws in the final 52 seconds to pull away.
It was the second straight game CSUB has let a huge lead slip away. At UOP on Tuesday, the Roadrunners fell behind in the final minute after leading by 17 in the second half. CSUB rallied for a last-minute win that game.
"I knew once we gave the lead up it was going to be a fight," Barnes said of Monday's game. "We've got to learn to protect our lead longer, but it's happening a lot across the country. Teams are coming back after being down 16, 17, 20 in the first half. ... "Because of the shot clock and the 3-point shot, you've got to play for 40 minutes, and we didn't do that tonight."
Nessman said the Spartans settled down once they came back from the huge early deficit.
"We weathered it and once we got our feet set we played pretty good basketball," Nessman said. "For the most part we outplayed them a little bit and that's indicative of the (final) score."
Notes: CSUB plays host to Cal State Northridge at 7 p.m. Saturday night in the Icardo Center. ... CSUB's 6-foot-10 backup center Andre Jackson has left the team in what Barnes said was a coach's decision.
Jackson has withdrawn from school. Barnes stressed the decision was not due to academic problems.
