Fresno State Athletics
Cartwright Sparks 'Dogs to Thrilling 90-87 OT Win
12/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2008
FRESNO, Calif. - True freshman point guard Bryce Cartwright broke out for 20 points while hitting 8 of 9 from the field and connecting on all three 3-pointers as Fresno State beat the Cal Poly Mustangs 90-87 in an overtime thriller in Mott Gymnasium on Monday night.
A spark for the exhilarating contest started right before the game when Cartwright received a letter on his phone as a text message from his dad asking him to make a statement.
Never underestimate the power of a few words of encouragement, especially when they come from your father.
Anthony Cartwright wanted his son to show why he was the best point guard on the team. He set goals for Bryce to average 10 points and 10 assists per game. And that now was the time to step up and make a difference to take his game to the next level.
Bryce took the advice to heart.
"Bryce just made shot after shot," head coach Steve Cleveland said. "He had a special evening and we needed it to win this game."
This 5-11 guard from Compton, Calif., has battled for playing time this season as a late signing from the successful Dominguez High School. He has battled through injury. And tonight, he started the game on the bench and stayed committed to the task at hand by fighting for every loose ball, forcing turnovers and taking really good shots. By refusing to settle and giving everything he had, he made a statement.
And so did a host of other Bulldogs.
Six Bulldogs played more than 29 minutes. And one of those fouled out in overtime.
When you trail by thirteen points, it's not an easy task to fight back. Going into the game, Fresno State had won just one game when trailing at halftime.
But these young `Dogs could draw on a valiant battle with Saint Mary's and a number of other non-conference tests. This could be their time to break out.
While Cartwright scored his career-high 20 points, senior guard Dwight O'Neil delivered a clutch 20 points with five of those down the stretch on the charity stripe. Freshman guards Mychal Ladd and Paul George were critical to the Bulldogs clawing their way back into the game as Ladd netted 17 and George added 16. George also had 10 rebounds for his fourth career double-double. Junior forward Sylvester Seay recorded his first Bulldog double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
This marks the first game where five Bulldogs scored in double figures.
Cal Poly's Titus Shelton started the scoring 2-0. Seay answered by swishing a jumper from the left side to even the score at 2.
The Mustangs led by as many as 13 points in the first half (22-9) with 7:07 to go in the first session.
George turned the momentum of the first half by forcing a steal and going uncontested for another one-handed slam dunk for his resume. On the next play, George forced another steal and the Mustangs resorted to fouling him instead letting him dunk again. With the foul shots counted, the `Dogs trailed by only four points.
After trading shots for the next minutes, Cartwright drilled a first-half buzzer-beating three-pointer to nearly close the gap as the halftime score listed Cal Poly up only 35-34. George paced the team at the first intermission with nine points.
"Our defense got us back in the game," Cleveland added.
The Mustangs sprinted out of the second-half gates as they quickly went on a 9-0 run to extend their lead to 44-34.
Ladd scored the Bulldogs first five points of the second frame as the Bulldogs kept digging themselves out of a hole.
After falling behind 69-60, the `Dogs responded with an 11-0 run on a Cartwright jumper just inside the three-point arc, a pair of Ladd free throws to cut the deficit, a Cartwright jumper and an O'Neil basket under the hoop that tied the score at 69 with just over two minutes to play. The last two points of the run came as the `Dogs took their first lead of the game when O'Neil later drained two free throws at the 1:51 mark in the second half to put Fresno State ahead 71-69.
After the Mustangs evened the score on their next possession, George picked up a steal and sent the ball to Ladd for a lay-up another Fresno State lead, 73-71.
Cal Poly's Chaz Thomas sent a floater into the net to tie the game at 73 with less than 30 seconds to play.
The `Dogs systematically worked the clock until O'Neil found an opening from the right wing for a three-pointer for a 76-73 Bulldog advantage before Thomas added a three with 1.4 seconds on the clock to send the game to overtime with the score even at 76 all.
Cal Poly converted two free throws as Golubovic fouled out with 3:45 remaining in overtime to give Cal Poly a 78-76 lead.
George then found Seay under the basket, who slammed down two to tie the game at 78.
Shelton made one of two free throws on the Mustang's next possession for a quick 79-78 lead before George put back his own miss for Fresno State's first lead of the extra session at 80-79. After a defensive stop, Cartwright drilled a jumper for a three-point Bulldog advantage (82-79) with just over two minutes left in overtime.
Shelton made two more from the charity stripe as the `Dogs lead dwindled to 82-81. After O'Neil missed a shot, Cal Poly found a way to miss both a lay-up and dunk put-back before George muscled down the rebound to keep Fresno State ahead with roughly a minute left in overtime and paved the way for O'Neil to hit a 3-pointer for a four-point lead.
Seay effortlessly nailed two free throws to put the Bulldogs up by six (87-81).
Cal Poly scored four points in less than two seconds to cut Fresno State's advantage to 87-85 until O'Neil drained a pair of free throws to help seal a 90-87 thrilling overtime victory.
"In overtime, no one was bigger then Dwight," Cleveland said.
Shelton led the Mustangs with a game-high 21 points followed by Thomas chiming in with 19 on the night. Shawn Lewis recorded a double-double for the home team with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
The Bulldogs will start league action on Saturday at 7 p.m. against New Mexico State.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The `Dogs return to the Save Mart Center on Saturday, January 3 as they open WAC play against New Mexico State at 7:00 p.m. Tickets are on sale now through the Save Mart Center box office, by calling (559) 485-TIXS or online at ticketmaster.com.
