Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Montana State
Bus, Road, Montana State, Can't Stop Bulldogs Saturday Night
12/9/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 9, 2006
Bozeman, Mont. - Fresno State head coach Steve Cleveland knew Saturday's game wasn't going to be easy. He knew playing three road games in eight days wasn't going to be easy. And he knew after his team took a bus trip six hours from Salt Lake City and arrived in Bozeman, Mont. at 3 a.m. Saturday morning, that the game wasn't going to be easy.
Sure enough, Saturday night's game against Montana State wasn't easy, but the Bulldogs fought through everything going against them and pulled out an 82-77 overtime victory at the Worthington Arena on the Montana State campus.
Fresno State was forced to bus to Bozeman from Salt Lake City, after mechanical problems with a Fresno aircraft forced the Bulldogs to miss the one and only connecting flight into Bozeman.
But that didn't stop Fresno State, as they improved to 8-1 on the season and bounced from a tough loss on Wednesday night. A much improved Montana State team fell to 2-8 on the year.
In overtime, the Bulldogs jumped out to a 70-67 lead with a quick 3-pointer, but Montana State went on an 8-2 run to take a 75-72 lead with 2 minutes, 9 seconds remaining. From their, Fresno State finished the game on a 10-2 run, including clutch free throws from Quinton Hosley, who had his best game of the season.
Hosley finished the game with a season-high 30 points, added 10 rebounds and dished out five assists. Hosley went 16-of-17 from the free throw line and scored six points in overtime.
Dominic McGuire added a double-double as well, scoring 13 points and grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. McGuire scored seven of his 13 points in overtime, as Hosley and McGuire combined for 13 points and Hector Hernandez had the other two points, as Fresno State scored 15 overtime points.
Hernandez finished the game with 14 points and Kevin Bell added 11 points and five assists.
Fresno State looked like it had won the game in regulation, but Carlos Taylor rebounded a missed Montana State shot and put up a 10-foot floater that clearly looked to be after the buzzer, to tie the game 67-67 and force overtime. After a meeting at half court, the referees agreed the shot had beaten the buzzer. The game was not televised, so instant replay was not an option.
In the opening half, the Bulldogs were led offensively by Hosley, who had 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, including two 3-pointers and Bell added eight points, including two 3-pointers.
As a team the Bulldogs improved their shooting from Wednesday night. Fresno State went 12-of-24 from the field and 6-of-13 from beyond the arc in the opening half.
Fresno State returns to the Save Mart Center when it hosts Creighton at 7:05 p.m. Saturday, December 16. The Bulldogs will only play one game this week and Seattle Sonics mascot Squatch will be in attendance performing before and during the game.
Game Notes
- Saturday's game at the Worthington Arena marked the first time the Bulldogs have played at Montana State since 1978, a 69-61 Fresno State victory.
- Fresno State scored 40 points in the first half Saturday night. On the season the Bulldogs have scored 40 or more points in a half seven times.
- The Bulldogs played their first overtime game of the season on Saturday night.
- Fresno State had four players reach double figures in scoring. When the Bulldogs have four players in double figures, they are 8-0.
Quote Book
- "This was a big win for us tonight," head coach Steve Cleveland said. "We fought through some tough road bumps, but the main thing is that we were able to come away with a win."
- "We knew this was going to be a tough game tonight," forward Quinton Hosley said. "We knew they were going to come out and seek revenge from the game earlier this season."
