by Amos Naismith
March 5, 2006 (c) TrueAggies.com
Exclusive to TrueAggies.com
Logan, UT -- Five foul shots.
On a night where the Utah State Aggies looked to be beaten in the Spectrum by San Jose State, it was seniors Cass Matheus and David Pak and their points from the foul line in the last minute and a half of play that gave the Aggies a 61-58 win over the Spartans.
Of course Nate Harris’ 19 points and Chaz Spicer’s 14 also kept the Aggies in the game and made the comeback possible. Durrall Peterson’s team-high nine rebounds also helped the cause.
After the fanfare of honoring the five USU seniors the Aggies started off flat, falling behind in the opening minutes. The Spartans extended their first half lead to as much as nine, leading 21-12 with 8:45 left in the half.
It was then that Spicer penetrated and got two back-to-back baskets. Then the Aggies pulled off a fantastic team play to bring themselves within three. With about 7:00 remaining, Chris Sessions saved the ball from going out over the SJSU baseline – throwing it down court. Just before the ball bounced out in front of the scorers table, Spicer picked it up and handed off to a streaking Jaycee Carroll. The sophomore guard drove to the hoop for the score making it 21-18 in favor of the Spartans.
That series would set the Aggie offense on fire as they outscored the Spartans 18-8 for the rest of the first period.
The Aggies looked to be taking control of the game going into the break with a 36-29 lead. They held that lead until the Spartans went on a 14-2 run, concluding with a 50-45 lead with 9:37 to play.
From that point on, the Aggies would only score two more baskets. The rest of their points came from free throws.
Harris’ last regular season field goal in the Spectrum brought the crowd to their feet. With 5:45 remaining, Chris Huber picked off a San Jose player headed down the floor. At about half court he bounced ahead to Harris who, with a full head of steam, slammed it home. At that point USU was down 54-52. Harris would make a pair of free throws with 2:09 remaining.
Pak made the final Aggie field goal with 1:36 left on the clock. Carroll picked out the senior who was under basket and laser beamed a sensational pass to Pak who acrobatically jumped and leaned over a defender to get the basket and the foul. Pak made his shot from the line to bring the Aggies within one, 58-57.
Matheus would then be sent to the line with 1:17 to play. The big Brazilian sank the pressure shots for the tie and the lead – giving Utah State a 59-58 advantage.
With 0:33 left Matheus would go to the line one last time, and he sank both to ensure the victory.
Utah State finished the season as the number-2 team in the WAC and the second seed in the WAC tournament next week that will be held in Reno.
You can email feedback, or comments and suggestions to Amos at amosnaismith@trueaggies.com
Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score
San Jose State vs Utah State
03-04-06 7:05 pm at Logan, Utah (Dee Glen Smith Spectrum)
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VISITORS: San Jose State 6-24, 2-14
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
15 Elam, Alex.......... f 7-15 5-7 0-0 0 3 3 3 19 0 2 0 1 38
40 Brown, Demetrius.... f 3-9 0-1 0-0 1 4 5 4 6 2 0 0 0 20
52 Misko, Matt......... c 4-5 0-0 0-1 0 2 2 5 8 0 2 0 0 19
20 Cozad, Jared........ g 0-8 0-4 2-5 3 6 9 1 2 5 2 0 0 32
23 Spencer, Carlton.... g 6-12 4-8 1-2 1 1 2 2 17 5 3 0 0 33
04 Richardson, Julian.. 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5
11 Gardner, Tyree...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 10
21 Thomas, Devonte..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4
33 Fleming, Kevin...... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 7
44 Holloway, Lance..... 1-2 0-0 0-0 3 5 8 1 2 1 0 2 0 18
50 Barbary, Menelik.... 2-5 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 5 4 0 0 1 0 14
TEAM................ 3 3
Totals.............. 23-59 9-21 3-8 11 26 37 23 58 14 10 3 1 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-28 42.9% 2nd Half: 11-31 35.5% Game: 39.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 5-12 41.7% Game: 42.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-4 25.0% 2nd Half: 2-4 50.0% Game: 37.5% 2,1
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HOME TEAM: Utah State 21-7, 11-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
04 Harris, Nate........ f 5-8 0-0 9-10 2 4 6 3 19 1 2 0 0 29
24 Peterson, Durrall... f 2-8 2-7 0-0 1 8 9 3 6 2 1 0 0 30
03 Matheus, Cass....... c 0-2 0-0 5-6 1 4 5 4 5 1 1 3 0 25
02 Pak, David.......... g 1-7 0-3 3-3 0 1 1 1 5 1 2 0 0 24
23 Huber, Chris........ g 2-6 2-5 0-0 0 1 1 0 6 3 1 0 2 22
20 Carroll, Jaycee..... 2-9 0-3 0-1 0 5 5 1 4 2 1 1 1 34
21 Session, Chris...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 0 10
30 Spicer, Chaz........ 6-9 0-0 2-2 1 3 4 0 14 1 1 0 1 20
44 Bendall, Nate....... 0-0 0-0 2-2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 6
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 18-49 4-18 21-24 6 28 34 14 61 11 9 5 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-30 43.3% 2nd Half: 5-19 26.3% Game: 36.7% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-10 30.0% 2nd Half: 1-8 12.5% Game: 22.2% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-8 87.5% 2nd Half: 14-16 87.5% Game: 87.5% 1
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Officials: Ronnie Hernandez, Duane Allen, Frank Harvey
Technical fouls: San Jose State-None. Utah State-None.
Attendance: 9428
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
San Jose State................ 29 29 - 58
Utah State.................... 36 25 - 61