Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Utah State
'Dogs Take First-Place Utah State to Overtime
1/31/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2009
FRESNO, Calif. - A 60-foot regulation buzzer-beater by junior forward Sylvester Seay sent the Bulldog's fierce battle with the first-place Utah State Aggies into overtime during a hard-fought clash that ended in a tough 83-77 loss for Fresno State on Saturday night in the Save Mart Center."We really appreciate the crowd that came out tonight," head coach Steve Cleveland said. "The energy was electric in the arena. We had opportunities to beat the best team in our conference. This was one of our best games we have played this season."
Seay led Fresno State (9-13, 1-6 Western Athletic Conference) with 20 points, including a career-high four 3-pointers. Two other Bulldogs reached double figures in scoring as freshman guard Paul George added 19 points and a game-high eight rebounds while freshman guard Mychal Ladd netted 15 for the Bulldogs.
Senior Aggie forward Gary Wilkinson scored a career-high 33 points on 14-of-17 shooting as Utah State extended its winning streak to 16 games. Jared Quayle added 18 points and six assists and Tai Wesley had 16 points for Utah State (21-1 overall, 9-0 WAC).
Wilkinson started the scoring on a jumper for a quick 2-0 Aggie lead, but the Bulldogs jumped out of the gates with a focus on playing aggressive defense that forced three steals in the first three and a half minutes of the game.
Sophomore forward Nedeljko Golubovic gave Fresno State its first lead of the game by knocking down a 3-pointer with 10:39 left in the first half for a 15-14 Bulldog advantage.
The `Dogs and Aggies went toe-to-toe for the remainder of the first half as Fresno State led by as many as two when Seay drilled a jumper with 8:03 to go in the opening session. Utah State led by as many as four twice in the first half, including the intermission tally with the Aggies up 33-29.
At the break, Seay paced the `Dogs with eight points and George led the battle of the boards with six rebounds as Fresno State had hit four 3-pointers compared to the Aggies hitting one.
In the second half, Utah State extended their advantage to eight points on three occasions, including a 50-42 lead with 10:31 left in the regulation.
The `Dogs responded with a 6-0 run to cut the deficit to 50-48.
Quayle then hit a jump shot to put the Aggies back up by four points until Seay swished a high-arcing 3-pointer from the corner to bring the Bulldogs to within one as 8:20 remained in the second-half.
The intensity level stayed high as the `Dogs battled and grabbed hold of the lead on a pair of George free-throws with just over two minutes remaining.
The 39 minute and 59.4 second grind came down to a prayer when Quayle completed two free-throws to give Utah State a 72-69 lead with 0.6 seconds left in regulation.
Golubovic inbounded a pass from the under the hoop to Seay, who drilled a miraculous 60-footer as time expired to send the Bulldogs to overtime and Red Wave into jubilation.
After Utah State scored the first five points in overtime, Fresno State stormed back to tie the game at 77-77 on a behind-the-head layup by Golubovic.
Wilkinson's two free throws with 10.3 seconds left in overtime sealed the Utah State victory to end Fresno State's hope of knocking off the fiery Aggies and their best start in school history.
The Bulldogs bench outscored their Aggie counterparts 18-9 as Fresno State also won the offensive rebounding battle by grabbing eight to Utah State's five. The `Dogs shot 37.5 percent from the beyond the three-point arc and completed 83.3 percent of their shots from the charity stripe on the night.
Fresno State takes a one-game road trip to visit Hawai'i for a Thursday night game next week on Feb. 5 before returning to host the Boise State Broncos on Monday Feb. 9.
Click HERE to read the Fresno State men's basketball "Bulldog Blog"
"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The `Dogs hit the road to play Hawai'i on Thursday, Feb. 5 at 9 p.m. PST. The game will be broadcasted on the Bulldog Sports Network and can be seen on KAIL-TV (MY 53) and My Digital 7.1 on HDTV, as well as espn360.com. The `Dogs return home to the Save Mart Center on Monday, Feb. 9 as they host Boise State at 7 p.m. It's Monday Madness and all tickets are buy one get one FREE (equal or lower value). Tickets are on sale now through the Save Mart Center box office, by calling (559) 485-TIXS or online at ticketmaster.com.
