Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Tulsa
Banked Three-Pointer Downs Men's Basketball
3/5/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 5, 2003
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Dante Swanson's banked three-pointer as the clock ran out gave Tulsa a 62-59 victory over Fresno State on Wednesday night.
Under pressure from Terry Pettis, Swanson let fly with a three as the buzzer sounded. Though off the mark, it hit the glass and fell through the hoop, sending the TU players and fans onto the court in celebration. It was so close, officials reviewed the shot before declaring the Golden Hurricane (18-9, 11-6 Western Athletic Conference) the winner.
Fresno State (20-7, 13-4), after already clinching the WAC title and then being banned from postseason games, still played like a team with something to play for.
The Bulldogs swapped leads with Tulsa throughout the game and led 59-58 with 1:30 left before the Golden Hurricane pulled even on a free throw by Jarius Glenn with 59 seconds to go.
Glenn led the Golden Hurricane with 19 points. Swanson, who in the previous five games had shot 54 percent from 3-point range, and Kevin Johnson each added 12.
"I'm very proud of how our team competed," said head coach Ray Lopes. "Obviously, this has been a hard week, but I thought we played like WAC champions tonight. Our defense helped keep us in the game, because offensively we were not as good as we needed to be. I give a lot of credit to Tulsa. They caused a lot of our offensive problems."
After a back-and-forth second half, Renaldo Major made two free throws to give Fresno State its last lead. Major led the Bulldogs with a career-high 22 points.
The game was the first for Fresno State since falling under a university-imposed postseason ban for academic fraud involving former players.
Fresno State took the lead two minutes into the second half on an 8-2 run, but Johnson sank three straight baskets as the Golden Hurricane pulled even.
Rolando Todd's 3-pointer at the 10:55 mark in the first half started a 9-0 run that put the Bulldogs ahead 24-16, their biggest lead. But Tulsa answered with a 14-3 run of its own and went on to lead 37-35 at halftime.
