Fresno State Athletics
QUOTES: Fresno State 69, Pepperdine 66
11/13/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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Rodney Terry, Fresno State Head Coach
What made this win possible?
"It was a really good team win tonight, for our guys. I thought our guys came out in the second half and were more engaged, they were talking, and working the game. We came out and stole four possessions, which was huge. We came down and converted to finish a couple of plays against their zone. The guys really stayed together and worked the court."
"Having a great home court was a big difference. We had a great crowd! The community came out; they're excited about this team. We really appreciate what they did for us tonight. We hope they come back again on Monday for us, because they were a big difference for us in this game. Our guys fed off of that energy."
"We have a chance to make this a very tough venue to come play in. Our community and our crowd tonight made the difference in the game. We could have a folded a couple of times but the energy in the building kept us going. Our guys didn't want to let this crowd down."
"I love that band. They bring so much energy to the building! It changes everything."
On 15 steals…
"The guys were in really great possessions. I think we can be the best defensive team in our league. If you're the best defensive team in our league than your probably one of the better teams in the country. We have all the ingredients to be able to do that. That's going to make the growth curve for this team have a very high ceiling, if we continue to build on that. "
On Lionel Ellison III...
Lionel is a winner. He came from a winning program. When we were recruiting him the one thing his coach echoed over and over was how much of a winner he is. At game time he's the guy that can climb in guys, get stops when he needs to, make the right decisions, and just carry himself the right way.
On the depth of the team…
"It's a strength of our team to have a number of different guys that can come in. One thing we've tried to instill in these guys is to play as hard as you can play, don't pace yourself on the floor because we have enough guys to come in. Having a bench and having guys that believe in each other right now is a huge step for this team."
On Lamar…
"We're going to get a team that's going to come in and be extremely athletic and compete at a very high level. Lamar has had some tournament teams. They'll come in and compete, we have to come in and play."
Torren Jones, Fresno State, Forward, Junior,
"It felt like home. This was something I was used to coming from Juco and I felt like that's something I needed to bring to the Bulldogs and that's what I focused on. That's what Coach recruited me for, to get rebounds and be a presence in the post. So I felt like I did my job. "
Turning around Pepperdine's run in the second half..
"Like Coach said we have a good group of guys that don't give up on each other. I felt like when Lionel came in he was the glue to that run we had to come back in the second half. "
Marvelle Harris, Fresno State, Guard, Senior
Tough game to start out your senior year…
"Everybody did their job tonight. Everybody played together and we played as a unit tonight."
Missing free-throws…
"That was a lack of concentration on our part. The atmosphere was exciting and we just weren't concentrating. We know we have to step up to the line and make the shots. "
Telling Torren every game is going to be like this…
"I told him if we keep winning every game is going to be like this. "
