Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Santa Clara
Men's Basketball Downed by Santa Clara 69-64
11/29/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2003
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Kyle Bailey scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half as Santa Clara defeated Fresno State 69-64 on Saturday night at the Leavey Center.
Bailey, an All-West Coast Conference selection two years ago before sitting out most of last season, hit 5 of his 11 shots in the second half, including 3 of 7 three-pointers. His banked three with 20.5 seconds to go put the game away.
Mustafa Al-Sayyad had a double-double for the Bulldogs, who dropped to 0-2 for the first time since the 1963 season.
"We were just not good enough tonight," head coach Ray Lopes said. "My hat's off to Santa Clara. They played very well and with a lot of toughness. We've got a lot of things to work on before we play Arkansas-Monticello on Friday. We'll get back to practice and try to pick up a win this weekend."
Fresno State held a 36-31 lead four minutes into the second half, but a 9-0 run gave Santa Clara the lead just three minutes later. After the Bulldogs went ahead at the seven-minute mark, Bailey's three-pointer with 6:23 remaining gave the Broncos the lead for good.
The Bulldogs crept as close as 64-61 on a Marcus West three-pointer with 51 seconds to play only to have Bailey respond with his bank shot from 21 feet with the shot clock nearly expired.
Ethan Rohde scored 14 points for Santa Clara (2-2), and Travis Niesen added 13.
Fresno State had five players in double figures, led by Shantay Legans with 12. Al-Sayyad and Renaldo Major each scored 11 points for the Bulldogs, while West and Francis Koffi added 10 apiece.
Al-Sayyad had a game-high 11 rebounds. Niesen led Santa Clara with nine. SCU outrebounded Fresno State 33-32.
The Bulldogs scored the last six points of the first half, but still trailed 26-25 at the break.
Both teams shot poorly in the first half, but both improved to 52 percent in the second half.
