Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Air Force
Bulldogs Clinch Bye with Win over Falcons
3/4/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery 
By Stephen Trembley
strembley@csufresno.edu
www.GoBulldogs.com
FRESNO, Calif. -- The Fresno State men's basketball team fought off a second-half comeback bid by Air Force as the Bulldogs defeated the Falcons 68-66 on Wednesday night at the Save Mart Center.
With the win, Fresno State (15-15, 10-7 Mountain West), secured a first-round bye in the next weeks' MW Championships in Las Vegas. The Bulldogs will be the No. 4, No. 5 or No. 6 seed when they play next Thursday in the quarterfinals.
"This team has really become a team," Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry said. "They're trusting each other more and we've felt like a team over the last two to three weeks."
The Bulldogs built a 15-point lead early in the second half before the Falcons bounced back - closing to 67-66 on a pair of Max Yon free throws and a Hayden Graham layup off a steal with under a minute to go.
Fresno State junior guard Marvelle Harris made just one of two free throws with five seconds left and the 'Dogs defense held on for the victory. Harris finished with 10 points - his 26th consecutive double-digit tally - and nine assists.
Cezar Guerrero led the Bulldogs with 18 points while Julien Lewis added 17. Watson joined Harris with 10 points. Senior forward Alex Davis posted six points and eight rebounds in his final home game.
"I wanted to come out and leave it all out there on the floor for the guy," Davis said. "Anytime you go into your senior night there's going to be a lot of emotions and I had a lot of emotions built up, but I wanted to stay focused to accomplish what we needed to do, which was winning this game."
The Falcons' Trevon Lyons posted a team-best 15 points and Hayden Graham chipped in 14 for Air Force (13-16, 6-12 MW).
Fresno State improved to 11-3 at home, including a 7-2 home record during league play.
"Ten wins in our league is pretty good, and to do what we did at home," Terry said. "We're 11-3 at home, great support here all year long it's a major deal. We don't get that done without the Red Wave in here supporting us. We did what we needed to do in conference play this year at home. We really appreciate them giving us a home court. In this league, you have to have a home court. Our home crowd really willed our guys. They willed our guys tonight to a victory. They've meant a lot to us, they really have."
Up Next
Fresno State closes the regular season at Boise State on Saturday night at 5 p.m. PT inside Taco Bell Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3/WatchESPN.com, 940 AM ESPN Radio and www.GoBulldogs.com.
The Bulldogs, who have clinched a first-round bye for next week's 2015 MW Tournament in Las Vegas, can still finish as high as the No. 4 seed or as low as the No. 6 seed depending on the outcomes of Saturday's conference games.
"Be Bold!" --- The official flagship radio stations for Fresno State men's basketball are 940 AM ESPN Radio and 1600 AM ESPN Deportes.
