Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Louisiana Tech
Men's Basketball Suffers First Loss at Home
2/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 13, 2003
FRESNO, Calif. - Lavelle Felton scored 19 points, hitting 4 of 5 three-pointers, as Louisiana Tech defeated Fresno State 80-77 on Thursday night.
Michael Wilder added 13 points and Antonio Meeking 12 for Louisiana Tech (11-9, 8-5), which moved into third place in the Western Athletic Conference with the victory, its sixth in a row.
Hiram Fuller led Fresno State with a career-high 20 points, while Damon Jackson added 19. Fresno State (17-5, 9-3) remained in first place in the WAC -- one-half game ahead of Nevada -- while dropping to 12-1 at Selland Arena.
Nevada (14-8, 9-3) defeated SMU 82-64 tonight in Reno. The Bulldogs and Mustangs (12-10, 7-5) play Saturday.
The win makes Louisiana Tech the first team since UNLV in 1991 and '92 to win games in back-to-back years at Selland.
"I give all the credit to Louisiana Tech. They outplayed us tonight," said head coach Ray Lopes. "They were a very athletic team, and we just didn't keep up defensively. This is a game we'll have to bounce back from quickly, though. We've got a good SMU team coming in here Saturday, and we'll need to play well against them."
Fresno State played from behind the entire game after blowing an early 21-8 lead. A 10-0 scoring run, keyed by two Felton three-pointers, put Louisiana Tech ahead for good after Fresno State pulled even at 57-57 with 10:15 remaining.
Rolando Todd had a career-high 12 assists for Fresno State.
With 30.5 seconds left, Jackson sank a three-pointer to trim the deficit to 78-77. But Louisiana Tech played tough defense and survived despite hitting just 2-of-5 free throws on its final three possessions.
Louisiana Tech shot 50.9 percent from the field, including 53.3 percent (8-of-15) on three-pointers. La Tech is just the third team this year to shoot better than 50 percent and is the first visitor to eclipse 70 points at Selland Arena.
Tech led 38-34 at halftime, outscoring Fresno State 30-13 over the last 9:34 of the half after falling behind by 13 early.
