Fresno State
Hawai'i
Hawai'i Outlasts Fresno State, 73-65
1/21/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2006
HONOLULU (AP)- Julian Sensley scored 21 points to lead Hawai'i to a 73-65 Western Athletic Conference win over league rival Fresno State Saturday night.
Matt Lojeski added 20 points and Ahmet Gueye 16 for the Rainbow Warriors (9-6, 3-2 Western Athletic Conference) as they snapped a two-game losing streak.
Quinton Hosley had a double-double for Fresno State (9-7, 2-3 WAC), scoring 18 points and pulling down a game-high 16 rebounds. JaVance Coleman also had 18 points and Donovan Morris added 13 for the Bulldogs.
Hawai'i used a 15-0 run, sparked by seven points from Sensley, to open up a 55-43 lead with 9:57 remaining in the game.
Fresno State pulled to within five on seven consecutive Bulldog points from Hosley. But Hawai'i converted on fast break layups off back-to-back Fresno turnovers to extend its lead back to 11, 63-52.
The Bulldogs would get as close as four points on back-to-back 3-pointers by Morris with 45 seconds left in the game. But the Rainbow Warriors made 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Fresno State made 13-of-37 3-point attempts compared to Hawai'i's 5-of-15. Fresno State made four of its first five 3-point attempts, and led by as much as 11 points six minutes into the game. But the Bulldogs shot just 2-of-11 from beyond the arc the rest of the first, and Hawai'i went on a 17-3 run to take a 24-21 lead with seven minutes remaining in the half.
The lead changed eight times in the last 5:30 of the first and the teams went into halftime tied at 33.
"We just didn't shoot well in the second half and we had nothing consistent inside," Fresno State head coach Steve Cleveland said. "Our legs looked a little tired and our transition defense broke down at times."Hawai'i is a good team and I thought we did a good job on Sensley in the first half," Cleveland stated. "Our rebounding effort was outstanding and now we just have to regroup to move on.
"The positive from this is that we're home for the next three games," Cleveland added. "We have to do our very best as we have the opportunity to split with New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech. "
Next week, the Bulldogs will play three games in five days starting Thu., Jan. 26, when they host New Mexico State. Two days later the `Dogs will have another rematch with Louisiana Tech on Jan. 28. And, another two days later, Fresno State will host Idaho on Jan. 30.
Single-game tickets can be had through Ticketmaster or the Save Mart Center Box Office.
