San Jose, Calif.-----San Jose State guard James Kinney scored 17 of his season-high 24 points in the second half, but that was not enough as Montana State pulled away from the Spartans in the final four minutes for a 77-70 non-conference men’s basketball victory.

            San Jose State (2-4) trailed by as many as 14 points, 56-42 with 14:04 left in the game before finding its offensive rhythm. Kinney, 6-of-7 from the field in the second half, was in the middle of it all with a pair of 3-point baskets and a 3-point play. His 3-point field goal with 4:17 to go tied the game at 65-65. The 6-foot-2 guard finished 8-of-14 from the field and 5-of-7 from 3-point range.

            The Spartans appeared to take their first lead of the game on their next possession, but Keith Shamburger’s drive and lay-in was waived off for a charging foul on the San Jose State guard.

            “We made a big run, but they fought us off the last three minutes of the game. The game was tied, Keith was called for an offensive foul, they made a basket and scored again off an offensive rebound and got up on us again,” said San Jose State coach George Nessman about the next minute of the game after the only tie in the contest.

            Montana State guard Jamie Singleton led the Bobcats (3-3) with a career-high 21 points and kept his team ahead in the final minute making six free throws in the final 35 seconds. Reserve guard Christian Moon came off the bench with a career high 19 points which included nailing four straight 3-point baskets in the first half.

            “We attacked the basket really well in the first half. We were patient and made the extra pass. Our shots were better, because we were more selective,” said Montana State coach Brad Huse. The Bobcats shot 49.1 percent from the field and were 11-of-24 from 3-point range.

            “For us, we struggled defensively in the first half. We guarded a little better in the second half. But, frankly, we’re not satisfied (with our defense),” added Nessman. "We've got to be more competitive and tougher. We're still not there yet."

            “We didn’t get the loose balls,” said San Jose State forward Chris Jones, who came off the bench to contribute 6 points, 5 rebounds and 2 steals in 27 minutes. “Today, we just fell apart on some plays.”

            San Jose State forward Wil Carter was the Spartans only other double-figure scorer with 15 points and a game-high 8 rebounds. Shamburger came into the game as San Jose State’s top scorer at 15.8 a game, but scored just 8 points.

            The Spartans lost their first home game of the season and can rebound Wednesday, November 30, hosting Texas San Antonio in a 7:00 p.m. game at The Event Center.

Montana State vs San Jose State
11/28/11 7:00 p.m. at Event Center
At Event Center
Montana State 77, San Jose State 70
Montana State (3-3)
STEWART, Jamie 4-8 10-11 21; MOON, Christian 7-11 0-0 19; ALLOU, Jourdain
5-7 0-2 10; BLOUNT, Xavier 4-8 0-1 9; SINGLETON, Rod 2-8 1-2 6; FALL,
Mohammed 3-5 0-0 6; DISON, Michael 1-2 0-0 3; REID, Shawn 0-4 3-3 3;
BRUMWELL, Blake 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-53 14-19 77.

SAN JOSE STATE (2-4)
Kinney, James 8-14 3-3 24; Carter, Wil 6-12 3-4 15; Douglas, Calvin 3-8 0-0
8; Jones, Chris 2-3 2-2 6; Shamburger, Keith 2-10 2-2 6; Brown, D.J. 1-3 4-6
6; Grieves, Nick 1-2 0-0 3; Williams, Jaleel 0-2 2-2 2; Ballard, Matt 0-0
0-0 0; Moor, Aalim 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-54 16-19 70.
MONTST........................   41   36  -   77
San Jose State................   34   36  -   70

3-point goals--MONTST 11-24 (MOON, Christian 5-8; STEWART, Jamie 3-4;
SINGLETON, Rod 1-3; BLOUNT, Xavier 1-4; DISON, Michael 1-2; REID, Shawn
0-3), San Jose State 8-24 (Kinney, James 5-7; Douglas, Calvin 2-6; Grieves,
Nick 1-2; Shamburger, Keith 0-5; Brown, D.J. 0-2; Williams, Jaleel 0-2).
Fouled out--MONTST-None, San Jose State-Shamburger, Keith. Rebounds--MONTST
29 (ALLOU, Jourdain 5; STEWART, Jamie 5; FALL, Mohammed 5), San Jose State
32 (Carter, Wil 8). Assists--MONTST 15 (SINGLETON, Rod 5), San Jose State 14
(Shamburger, Keith 6). Total fouls--MONTST 14, San Jose State 14. Technical
fouls--MONTST-None, San Jose State-None. A-1055