Bulldogs rally for win in overtime

Thursday, January 28

Fresno, Calif.

8 p.m. PT

Fresno State

6-6, 4-6MW

New Mexico

5-10, 1-10MW

OT 1

New Mexico

Fresno State

Photo by: CARY EDMONDSON - FRESNO STATE

Bulldogs rally for win in overtime

1/28/2021 11:58:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery (Samuel Marshall)Photo Gallery (Cary Edmondson)Video (Post-Game Zoom, 1/28/21)Video (Highlights)

Fresno State junior guard Junior Ballard was dialed in and sophomore guard Deon Stroud took flight to help the Bulldogs win their series opener with the Lobos.

By: Stephen Trembley / Director of New Media

FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno State men's basketball team rallied for a gritty 64-62 overtime win over the New Mexico Lobos late Thursday night at the Save Mart Center.

The victory was the fourth straight home victory for Fresno State (6-6, 4-6 Mountain West), who overcame a late four-point deficit in overtime by scoring the game's final six points in the deciding last minute.

Fresno State junior guard Junior Ballard scored a season-high 18 points, including four made 3-pointers, and Deon Stroud added 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting with four assists (no turnovers) and two steals for the Bulldogs. Sophomore forward Orlando Robinson also had a career-high 16 rebounds in the win.

New Mexico (5-10, 1-10 MW) fought hard from start to finish and were led by Makuach Maluach, who finished with a game-best 24 points.

Quotes
Justin Hutson, Fresno State head coach
On winning a wild back-and-forth game tonight...
"Glad we pulled it out. We did a lot of good things and we did a lot of bad things, but we kept fighting and pulled it out. We made some big plays at the end and pulled it out."

On overcoming deficits late in both regulation and overtime...
"We are working hard and we are doing a lot of good things that we are proud of and we are also doing a lot of silly things. I am not sure this is going to be a crescendo moment where all of a sudden we aren't going to make those silly mistakes because I have been seeing them in practice, you see them in every game, but they are definitely self inflicted most of the time and it is (being) careless with the ball and us making the wrong play. We played hard defense, we should have had a much bigger lead in the first half than what we did. I was proud of our team for how we came out and moved the ball against the zone, got the ball to the high post, kicked it out and we made some big shots and we made some big stops at the end when we needed them."

Junior Ballard, Fresno State junior guard
On leading the team with 18 points tonight...
"It always feels good to come through for the team especially when they got your back, always feels good to grind out a win like that."

On knocking down clutch three-pointers in critical times...
"Personally, that means everything to me. We work at it in practice everyday and everyday the coaches and teammates are always giving me the utmost confidence, no matter if I have had a bad game in the past or shots just haven't been falling for me. They are always giving me confidence to shoot my shot and it means everything to me truly."

On the importance of the win moving forward...
"It is always important, especially at this level, wins aren't easy to get so every win that we can get, it is always good. We are obviously getting better. I have the utmost confidence in my teammates and the coaching staff -- they put us in the right positions so it is truly up to us to go out every night and play hard."

Player Notes
Junior Ballard – 18 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal

Ballard recorded a new season-high with 18 points.
Ballard scored in double figures for the third time this season.

Deon Stroud – 14 points, 4 assists, 2 steals, 1 rebound

Stroud scored in double figures for the ninth time this season.
Stroud dished a career-high four assists.

Orlando Robinson – 16 rebounds, 4 points, 2 steals, 1 assist

Robinson grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds.
Robinson logged double figure rebounds for the 13th time in his career, and seventh time this season.

Next up: Fresno State and New Mexico will play again on Saturday at 4 p.m. PT on the Mountain West Network and 940 AM ESPN Radio, and then host Utah State for a two-game series next week.

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