By Sandeep Chandok (@sandeepchandok):
SJSU head coach Jean Prioleau had his team playing ball with a hot potato Friday night as it recorded 30 assists en route to a 97-45 win over Antelope Valley.
It was a 48-33 advantage for the Spartans at the break after four careless turnovers led to a 9-0 Pioneer run to close the first half. Prioleau addressed his team in the locker room on its rough final two minutes.
“We really just talked about our mentality, our mentality slipped a little bit,” Prioleau said. “No matter what happens at the Division I level, no matter where you’re playing and who you’re playing, it can only take two minutes or three minutes, and you give a team momentum, and then that can change the entire game.”
An 11-0 spurt by the Spartans in the first four minutes out the break extended their 48-33 halftime advantage before a layup by Pioneers forward Jacob Mast halted the run.
But it got worst for Antelope Valley, a lot worst.
Prioleau’s group topped its 11-0 run with an 18-1 eruption over the following seven minutes to put the game out of reach.
“We wanted to come out in the second half and really set the tone defensively, which I think we did,” Prioleau said.
The Spartans gave up just 12 points in the second half, but it was junior stretch man Ryan Welage whose hot first half got his team going from the jump.
“My teammates were really just getting me the ball in good positions,” Welage said of his 20-point first half.
The Greensburg, Ind. product finished with 30 points on 10/12 shooting, connecting on all three of his triples.
Senior guard Jalen James also cashed in on his three attempts from deep on his way to a 15pt/4ast/4reb/3stl night.
A third Spartan who splashed a trio of long-bombs was freshman Noah Baumann, who in 21 minutes of his first regular season collegiate game, logged 12 points, four assists, three steals and no turnovers.
Baumann and fellow freshman guard Ryan Parilla provided the young Spartan group with some productive floor time, much to the attention of their coach, who also got his first career win Friday.
“I thought they were great,” Prioleau said. “Those guys are getting accustomed to the level of play.”
Parilla, like Baumann, also had four assists and zero turnovers in his 19-minute debut.
The last number that jumped out on the stat sheet was 10. It was the number of rebounds by a Spartan player, second-year guard Isaiah Nichols.
It will be a short turnaround for SJSU as it hosts the University of San Diego on Sunday at the Event Center at 2 p.m.
“Team defense, team on offense,” James said on the key to a second win. “We got a good team we playing against Sunday in San Diego. We move the ball, play team defense, I think we’ll be alright.”