Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Seattle University
Fresno State Stops Seattle, 79-58
11/25/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2008
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Sylvester Seay scored a career-high 22 points and Paul George added his second career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds as Fresno State pulled away in the second half to defeat Seattle University 79-58 on Tuesday night.
Mychal Ladd also netted a career-high by scoring 15 points and grabbing six rebounds while senior guard Dwight O'Neil added 12 points for the third straight game and nearly earned a triple-double with nine assists and eight rebounds for the Bulldogs, who snapped a two-game losing streak and stayed unbeaten at home.
"Dwight and Mychal played really well tonight both offensively and defensively," head coach Steve Cleveland said. "That was probably Dwight's best 20 minutes of basketball in the second half."
"The freshmen really stepped up tonight on the defensive end," O'Neil said. "We asked them to in practice and they did it tonight."
Chris Gweth scored 16 points and Leigh Swanson added 13 for Seattle (3-1), which lost the first game it played against a Division I opponent. The Redhawks are making the transition to Division I after playing at the Division II level since 1980.
Fresno State (2-2) opened the second half with a 15-5 scoring run to widen its seven-point halftime lead.
After Seattle cut the deficit to 52-42 on a free throw by Shaun Burl with 10:21 left, the Bulldogs scored nine straight points to put the game away. George passed to Seay underneath for a layup, and O'Neil drove the lane and drew a foul on Mike Boxley for a three-point play.
The Bulldogs shot 51.9 percent from the floor compared to 38.5 percent for Seattle and outrebounded the Redhawks 37-25.
Fresno State finished 9 of 20 from three-point range and committed five turnovers in the second half after committing 12 in the first.
Seay banked in a three-pointer from the top of the key just before the buzzer to give Fresno State a 34-27 halftime lead.
The Bulldogs closed the half with an 11-4 run after the Redhawks tied the game at 23-23 with 3:18 left.
Gweth scored seven of his 10 first-half points during a 96-second span, as Seattle erased an early seven-point deficit. The junior guard also had a game-high five steals.
Seattle had 10 of its 11 steals in the first half.
The 'Dogs continue their homestand next week by welcoming Oregon State (Nov. 30) and UNLV (Dec. 3) to the Save Mart Center.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The `Dogs host the Pacific-10's Oregon State Beavers on Sunday, November 30 at 2:00 p.m. in the Save Mart Center. Tickets are on sale now through the Save Mart Center box office, by calling (559) 485-TIXS or online at ticketmaster.com.
