SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Ryan Welage tallied 21 points and Keith Fisher posted a double-double (15 points/13 rebounds) to lead San Jose State to a 75-63 win over Santa Clara men's basketball on Thursday in the annual Cable Car Classic.
KJ Feagin posted a game- and season-high tying 24 points and Henry Caruso added 13 for the Broncos (3-9) who shot just 30 percent from the floor, including 5 of 28 in the opening half.
Oumar Barry came off the bench to score 12 points for the Spartans (3-8) who overcame 20 turnovers to snap a five-game skid by out-scoring the Broncos 28 to 16 in the paint and connecting on 26 of 33 from the free-throw line.
The Broncos trailed by 26 in the opening half to their crosstown rival and 23 early in the second before making a furious rally keyed by their fullcourt press.
Fueled by a pair of 3-pointers from Feagin and two baskets from Caruso, Santa Clara scored 11 in a row to chop the deficit to 58-53 with less than six minutes left in the game.
After turning the ball over on four of five possessions, the Spartans took back control by scoring seven of the next eight points, all at the free-throw line. The Broncos went cold again from the floor, missing their next four as the lead ballooned back into double digits.
San Jose State scored 18 of its final 20 points at the free-throw line.
Santa Clara, which trailed from start to finish, started the game ice cold from the floor, missing its first 16 shots.
The Spartans scored the first 10 points of the game and led 21-7 when the Broncos finally connected from the field, a Feagin 3-pointer with 7:17 left.
San Jose State scored 11 straight points to increase the lead to 39-13 with less than three minutes remaining in the opening half.
"You have to credit San Jose State," Santa Clara head coach Herb Sendek said. "From our perspective, we couldn't have been any colder. We had some wide-open ones during that stretch. We really put ourselves in a hole. To some measure, I'm sure that wreaked havoc with our psyche. Credit to our team to battle and make somewhat of a comeback in the second half."
San Jose State was well balanced with five players scoring eight or more. Ashtain Chastain and Jaycee Hillsman each had eight points and six rebounds.
The Spartans shot 49 percent from the floor in the game, including 56 percent in the opening half.
Matt Hauser had 11 points, all in the second half, for the Broncos who have dropped four in a row after winning two straight.
Feagin scored 19 points in the second half.
NOTES
• Matt Hauser, KJ Feagin, Jarvis Pugh, Henry Caruso and Emmanuel Ndumanya started for the Broncos. Josip Vrankic (concussion) missed the game after being injured Monday against Valparaiso.
• The Cable Car Classic, which has normally featured four teams, was founded in 1967 by Art Santo Domingo, a former public relations director of the San Francisco Giants, and his long-time friend, the late Harry Jupiter, a sports writer for the San Francisco Examiner. The tournament was historically held around the Christmas holiday.
• The Broncos lead the all-time series 79-31 but San Jose State has won in the last two. The teams met for the 23rd consecutive season (since 1995-96) and in 35 of the last 36 years (since 1982-83). The 110 games played are the sixth highest total of any Santa Clara opponent and most against a nonconference foe. Last year, the Spartans snapped a six-game Bronco winning streak in the series.
HIGHLIGHTS
HIGHLIGHTS | The best of the #SCUBroncos from tonight's contest! FULL HIGHLIGHTS ▶ https://t.co/ISwZ0tNmJZ #StampedeAhead #WCCHoops pic.twitter.com/ZktH6ZobXQ
— Santa Clara Hoops (@SantaClaraHoops) December 22, 2017
NEXT UP
The Broncos close out their three-game homestand on Thursday when Pepperdine visits to open West Coast Conference play.
QUOTES
"In any game, whether you win or lose, there are things you do well that are positive and there are some things that you didn't do well that you need to improve; tonight was no different. The guys did show good fight, cutting a 26-point lead to five but it wasn't enough to get over the hump."
Head coach Herb Sendek
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