Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Cal State Bakersfield
Dogs Sweep Roadrunners
2/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2011
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - In front of its largest crowd of the season, the Cal State Bakersfield squad was looking for revenge against Valley rival Fresno State on Wednesday night at the Rabobank Arena. Despite some hot shooting early and building a double-digit lead, Fresno State chipped away at the large deficit, erasing it late in the first half and scored the first 10 points of the second half to roll to an easy 73-55 win.
The Roadrunners made five threes in the first half, all by Alex Johnson, and owned leads of 19-10 and 26-16 early on.
Freshman guard Tyler Johnson made three consecutive free throws, that was followed by two driving layups by Jonathan Wills and a Greg Smith three-point play cut the lead to 30-29 with 4:20 remaining before halftime.
Smith stole the ball on CSUB's next possession and found Tim Steed for a lay-up and the Dogs briefly held a 31-30 lead. The Roadrunners regained the lead 37-34 at intermission.
Unlike the first game between the two schools in which Fresno State dominated the boards by a 52-26 count, the Roadrunners dominated the glass in the first half with a 26-13 edge.
The Bulldogs stormed of the locker room and took control of the game. Ned Golubovic scored his first basket of the game on Fresno State's first possession of half. Steed nailed a pull-up jumper from 12 feet in transition to give the Dogs a 38-37. After consecutive baskets by Smith and another by Steed, the Dogs scored the first 10 points of the half for a 44-37 lead.
Steed added two three pointers in a two minute stretch and finished with 23 points. The Dogs boosted their lead to 63-53 with 6 minutes remaining and held the Roadrunners to just 18 points in the second half.
"Defensively we really locked them up in the second half," said head coach Steve Cleveland. "We had some guys really step up. Jonathan Wills, Tim Steed and Tyler Johnson all really came in played well when we needed them to. This is one of those games that can be scary when you get out of the league in the middle of the season and it doesn't seem as important. These are tough games to get ready for so I'm really pleased to go on the road in a good environment and get a win."
The Roadrunners are a Division I independent program that had not played since the Feb. 7 game against the Dogs at the Save Mart Center, a 30-point Bulldog victory.
Paul George Night Saturday, Great Ticket Deals on Tap
NBA rookie Paul George will return to the Save Mart Center Saturday night when the Bulldogs host UC Riverside in the BrackerBusters game at 7 p.m. Because of the NBA All-Star break, George will be in Fresno this weekend and rejoin his former teammates and coaching staff. George is rookie with the Indiana Pacers and was the No. 10 overall pick of the 2010 NBA Draft. Tickets for Saturday's game are $10 plus and fans can bring one child for free. Additional children's tickets are just $5 each.
Bulldog Notes
- Dogs swept the season series and lead the all-timer series over the Roadrunners 6-4. Fresno State is now 12-14 overall and 5-8 in WAC games while Cal State Bakersfield is 9-15 overall.
- CSUB guard Alex Johnson, who made five three pointers and scored 15 first half points, was held scoreless in the second half by the Dogs.
- The Dogs limited CSUB to 18 points in the second half and denied a three pointer after allowing 37 points and five threes in the first half.
- In other games involving WAC teams Wednesday night, No.24 Utah State (24-3, 12-1) defeated Montana-Western 100-66 and Louisiana Tech (11-15, 2-10) lost at North Dakota (13-11) 76-73. None of the WAC teams are playing conference games this week.
- Tim Steed had his third 20-point game of the season with a team-high 2x. Steed previously scored 26 at Nevada and 20 against the Wolf Pack at the Save Mart Center.
"We are Your Team!" Fresno State returns home Feb. 19 for the ESPN BracketBusters game against UC Riverside. NBA rookie Paul George will return to the Save Mart Center for the game. Click the tickets icon at the top of the page for more information.
