Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Creighton
Men's Basketball Loses Overtime Heartbreaker to Creighton
12/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 13, 2003
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Michael Lindeman scored 19 points and Mike Grimes added 17 as Creighton remained unbeaten Saturday by outlasting Fresno State 70-62 in overtime.
Nate Funk's 3-pointer at the buzzer capped a Creighton comeback and sent the game into overtime tied at 54-54. Forced to go the length of the court in 5.1 seconds, CU's Tyler McKinney dribbled toward his basket, then passed to Funk who pump faked, took one dribble to his left and buried the three.
"For 35 minutes, we played a very, very good game," head coach Ray Lopes said. "But we didn't make the plays we needed to make in the end, and Creighton stepped up and did what they needed to do. They deserved to win.
"In the overtime, we just didn't have the intensity we had in the first 40 minutes," said Lopes. "And Creighton turned up their intensity. That was the difference."
Creighton (6-0) erased an eight-point deficit in the final 3:57 of regulation, and then stayed hot during the extra period. Creighton scored on its first three overtime possessions and bolted to a 62-55 lead.
The Bluejays eventually made all five of their field goal attempts in overtime after shooting 41.2 percent in regulation.
Fresno State (2-4) had four players in double figures, but the balanced attack went cold in the game's late stages. The Bulldogs went without a field goal in the final 4:40 of regulation and 3:25 of overtime. During that period, the Bulldogs missed nine consecutive field goals and three free throws. In between Marcus West's bucket with 4:43 left in the second half and Renaldo Major's three with :16.9 remaining in OT, Fresno State was just 1-of-13 from the floor.
For the game, Fresno State shot 36.8 percent from the field.
West scored 16 points to lead the Bulldogs. Jonathan Woods, returning from a three-game suspension, and Major had 15 points apiece for the Bulldogs.
