Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Cal Poly
Bulldogs Down Mustangs, 85-77
11/23/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 23, 2005
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (AP)
- Brief Recap:
Quinton Hosley and Ja'Vance Coleman combined for 56 points to lead Fresno State to an 85-77 victory Wednesday over Cal Poly in a non-conference game.
Hosley scored 29 points for the Bulldogs (1-0) and led all rebounders with 10. Coleman added 27 points.
Dawin Whiten led Cal Poly (1-2) with 26 points, and center Gabe Stephenson had 16 points and eight rebounds.
Fresno State won despite being outrebounded by the Mustangs 35-32 and being outshot from the field 52 percent to 44 percent.
But the Bulldogs took charge in the second half, erasing an 11-point Cal Poly lead. Fresno went ahead for good, 71-69, with 5:27 left on a layup and free throw by Donovan Morris.
Stephenson's layup with 46 seconds left trimmed the Bulldogs' lead to 80-77, but Fresno State responded with five unanswered points.
Fresno State Story
The Fresno State men's basketball team opened the 2005-06 season with an 85-77 road victory over Cal Poly by riding the play of junior forwards Quinton Hosley and Ja'Vance Coleman, who combined for 56 of the team's points, in head coach Steve Cleveland's debut as the Bulldogs' skipper
Trailing 38-30 at half time, the `Dogs poured in 55 second half points and overcame a slugging start that saw Fresno State hit just 16.7-percent of its three-point attempts (2-12) and 33.3-percent from the field overall (10-30).
While Cleveland improved to 9-0 in season openers as a Division I head coach, the Bulldogs came alive offensively and defensively in the second half as they forced 16 turnovers and shot 20-percent better overall.
With six ties and 10 lead changes in the game, Hosley sparked the `Dogs in his debut by recording a double-double as he posted a game-best 29 points and had a game-high 10 rebounds while sharing top honors in steals (4) in 40 minutes of play.
Coleman tied his career-high when he poured in 27 points to go along with three steals. It was his 13th career 20-point effort as he also collected a career-best mark in field goals made (10). Dating back to last season, Coleman has posted three consecutive 20-point games and is averaging 26.6 points in this stretch.
Sophomore guard Kevin Bell also tallied double-figures after chipping in 10 points to go along with four assists in 40 minutes of action.
The first half featured long distance dialing as Fresno State and Cal Poly combined for 25 3-point attempts. Guard Dawin Whiten, who finished with a team-best 26 points, led the charge for the Mustangs as he tallied 14 points, including a 4-for-6 performance beyond the arc.
The Mustangs were down early but quickly made up ground, including a 10-3 run that saw Cal Poly take a 15-12 lead. Fresno State broke that run by scoring four points in the next 1:35 to regain the lead at 16-15. A Hosley 3-pointer put the `Dogs up by four (19-15) at the 9:53 mark but once the Mustangs broke a 21-21 tie, Fresno State would only get within one once the remainder of the half. Cal Poly pushed its lead to as much as 10 points as the entered halftime with a 38-30 lead.
In the second half, Fresno State chipped away at Cal Poly for the first 11 minutes. A Hosley tip in off a missed three-point attempt by sophomore center Hector Hernandez allowed the Bulldogs to tie the game at 57.
Hosley then scored the next six points for Fresno State which allowed the Bulldogs to maintain the lead the rest of the game. Down the stretch, key rebounds by sophomore guards Donovan Morris and Dwight O'Neil propelled the `Dogs defensively. Cal Poly would score only eight points in the last five minutes of action as Fresno State closed out the game by making seven of its 10 free throws before a Coleman dunk sealed the game with 1.8 seconds left.
"This was not easy," Fresno State head coach Steve Cleveland said. "Cal Poly had a great first half effort and just beat us to the ball. In the second half, I thought we did a nice job of pressing. Quinton (Hosley) was a big difference as was Ja'Vance (Coleman) and Kevin (Bell). When push came to shove in the final minutes of the game, Hector (Hernandez) did a great job in the post.
"This was a good road win for us," Cleveland added. "We were down by eight to 10 points and found a way to win. They believed while getting deflections not to mention critical steals and rebounds. I really liked the resolve of this team"
Fresno State (1-0) will open its home schedule against Oregon State (1-1) on Sat., Nov. 26, 7:00 p.m. Single-game tickets can be purchased at the Save Mart Center box office or any Ticketmaster location. In addition, single-season tickets are available by phoning the Bulldog Ticket Office at (559) 278-3647 or on-line at www.gobulldogs.com.
Special note on Saturday's game against Oregon State:
Since the game time for the Fresno State at Nevada football game was moved to 4:00 p.m. to accommodate the ESPN2 broadcast, there will be a short overlap in time between the end of the football game and the beginning of the Fresno State vs. Oregon State basketball game. Fresno State can not delay the start of the basketball game because it is being broadcast live back to Oregon. KMJ 580 AM will broadcast the football game in its entirety and join the basketball game in progress. In addition, due to the basketball pre-game warm ups, it is highly unlikely that the Fresno State vs. Nevada football game will end before the basketball game begins. Fresno State will not show the football game on the video board at the Save Mart Center.
