Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
UC Santa Barbara
Dogs Push Gauchos to Wire in BracketBuster
2/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
FRESNO, Calif. - Sophomores Paul George and Mike Ladd mounted a fearless late comeback and freshman Jerry Brown intercepted one of his career-high five steals with only seven seconds left before the UCSB Gauchos held on for a 64-60 advantage in Fresno State's eighth ESPNU BracketBusters appearance on Saturday night in the Save Mart Center.
"I was proud of our effort, but when you don't make shots or convert free throws, it is hard to win basketball games," Steve Cleveland said after his 400th career game as a Division I head coach. "I have to credit Santa Barbara for their defense. We have to take a few days and focus to be ready to go on Tuesday night."
Ladd scored a team-high 16 points on a trio of 3-pointers while George added 13 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Brown logged 23 minutes off the bench and registered a career-best five steals, smashing his previous high of one in a game three previous times.
Fresno State had a chance to take the lead on its second-to-last possession, but Paul George's 3-point attempt slammed off the backboard.
"We got the shot we wanted and couldn't have drawn it up better, but didn't make the wide open shot," Cleveland reflected on the George's game-winning attempt. "Jerry got the steal on the inbound to set it up and really gave us some great energy from the bench all night."
Orlando Johnson scored 23 points, including the clinching free throws, and James Powell added 10 points for the Gauchos (16-8, 10-3 BWC), who lead the Big West Conference by a half-game over Pacific.
Fresno State (13-15, 6-7 WAC) sits in fifth place in the Western Athletic Conference standings with three games to play after being predicted to finish sixth by the WAC's coaches and seventh in the preseason media poll.
The Bulldogs will conclude their two-game homestand on Tuesday night against CSU Bakersfield at 7 p.m. in the Save Mart Center and then visit San Jose State and Utah State next weekend on their final WAC road trip.
"We Are Your Team" - The Cal State Bakersfield Road Runners will be heading north to face your Fresno State Bulldogs on Tuesday, February 23rd at the Save Mart Center. Tip-off is set for 7pm. Tickets can be purchased through the Save Mart Center Box Office, by calling 559-485-TIXS or through Ticketmaster.com. For more information visit GoBulldogs.com.
