Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Nevada
`Dogs Battle To The Wire With Wolf Pack
1/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2009
RENO, Nev.--After nearly knocking off the conference-leading Utah State Aggies on Thursday night, the Fresno State men's basketball team fought back from a 15-point hole midway through the second half before falling 65-60 to the five-time defending WAC champion Nevada Wolf Pack on Saturday night in the Lawlor Events Center."We are knocking on the door," head coach Steve Cleveland said. "We competed with the top two teams in the WAC on the road in competitive games. This gives us hope that we will turn the corner. There is so much parity in this league right now that anyone can win on any night."
Freshman guard Paul George recorded a team-high 16 points and nine rebounds while sophomore Nedeljko Golubovic also picked up nine rebounds (tying a career-high) to go with seven points. Junior forward Sylvester Seay added 13 points and eight rebounds in his first game since torching Utah State for 32 points on Thursday night.
Nevada started the scoring as sophomore guard Armon Johnson took a steal uncontested for a dunk for an early 2-0 Wolf Pack lead.
O'Neil dished the ball into the low left post for Golubovic, who hooked a shot over current WAC Player of the Week Luke Babbitt for the `Dogs first points to even the score at 2-2.
With Fresno State down 6-2, Seay drove baseline for a strong dunk, drawing a foul on Nevada's Dario Hunt and completed the three-point play to cut the difference to one.
After a defensive stop, George grabbed one of his six offensive rebounds on the night and found Seay outside, who drained a three-pointer from the left wing for Fresno State's first lead of the game, 8-6.
Nevada led by as many eight points in the first half (30-22) with 1:56 left before halftime. Fresno State trailed 33-27 at the break as Seay paced the Bulldogs with 11 first-half points while shooting four of four from the field, including a pair of three-pointers.
The Wolf Pack jumped out of the second-half gates with a 13-4 run for a 46-31 Nevada advantage with under 13 minutes to play.
But the `Dogs refused to roll over as they stepped up their energy and aggressiveness to fight back into the contest.
With 8:04 to go, George hit a big three from the right wing to cut Nevada's lead to only six (52-46), which the Bulldogs later to cut to five as Golubovic netted the front end of a set of free throws for a five-point deficit with 7:23 left.
After falling back down nine, O'Neil drained a long three-pointer as Fresno State climbed within six and George added two free throws to get the `Dogs within four, 56-52.
With under a minute to go, Cartwright completed a three-point play as they drove to the basket, muscled up a two-point jumper, drew a foul and swished in a free-throw to get within three, 58-55.
Babbitt, who led the way for Nevada with a game-high 22 points while tallying a double-double by also bringing down 13 rebounds, countered by hitting a jump shot with 46 seconds left on the clock that sealed the game for the Wolf Pack.
Nevada (11-7, 4-1) prevailed by a final of 65-60 for their 11th victory of the season. Fresno State drops to 7-11 on the season and remains looking for an elusive first conference win.
The `Dogs did outscore the Wolf Pack in the second half (33-32), but couldn't overcome Nevada hitting 15 free throws in the first half compared to Fresno State's one conversion from the charity stripe.
The Bulldogs head back to Fresno State for a single home game on Thursday night (Jan. 22) before traveling to Northern California for a rematch on the road with longtime rival San Jose State on Saturday night (Jan. 24).
Click HERE to view the Fresno State men's basketball Bulldog Blog.
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The `Dogs return to the Save Mart Center on Thursday, January 22 for a Bulldog showdown as they host Louisiana Tech at 7:00 p.m. It's Thursday Night at the Save Mart Center and all Fresno State and Fresno Unified School District faculty and staff can receive $2 tickets with presentation of their ID (limit 4 tickets) at the Save Mart Center box office. Tickets are on sale now through the Save Mart Center box office, by calling (559) 485-TIXS or online at ticketmaster.com.
