Matt Weir / Collegian File Photo
The ‘Dogs fought hard for a “W” at their last conference game
On senior night, the Fresno State men’s basketball team was able to send out its lone senior Sylvester Seay the best way it could””a win against Louisiana Tech.
Seay was honored Thursday night during a pregame ceremony inside the Save Mart Center with a framed version of his No. 30 uniform.
The ‘Dogs also snapped a two-game losing streak with the home victory, knocking off Louisiana Tech 66-59 to close out the Western Athletic Conference schedule.
Fresno State came off horrific road losses to San Jose State and Utah State, being defeated by an average of 32 points-per-game. But the ‘Dogs regrouped after the Utah State game, and was able to turn a negative into a positive.
“I think it was pretty well documented, the challenges we had last week,” head coach Steve Cleveland said. “That’s always tough on coaches and players. I think our team offensively had lost some confidence. When you’re not scoring, you still have to compete and you still have to play as hard as you can possibly play.”
Fortunate for Fresno State, Louisiana Tech was playing without its leading scorer Kyle Gibson who averages 19.8 points per game. Louisiana Tech saw two players record double-doubles, but also turned the ball over 16 times.
A first half 28-27 Fresno State lead was quickly erased via a Louisiana Tech offensive explosion to open the final 20 minutes of play. Fresno State leading scorer Paul George was ineffective for the first half, scoring just five points on 1-for-7 shooting from the field. However, George closed the game strong with 16 points.
“It was nice to see Paul kind of finally knock some shots down,” Cleveland said it was nice to see Paul finds his rythm and started knocking down shots. “He was 1-for-7 in the first half and was really struggling shooting the ball.”
Louisiana Tech jumped the gun in the second half, building a 10-point lead in the first five minutes of play. However, the final 10 minutes of the second half saw the ‘Dogs close out the victory, something Fresno State fans have missed in recent weeks.
The ‘Dogs clung to a 61-56 lead inside one minute of play, but Louisiana Tech closed the gap to two with a baseline three-pointer. The two-point lead did not last long as clutch free throws from Brandon Sperling down the stretch preserved the win.
“If Brandon Sperling doesn’t play tonight then we don’t win; I’ll tell you that right now,” Cleveland said.
Center Greg Smith lead all scorers with 17 points to go along with five rebounds. Second-half shooting was also in Fresno State’s favor with a 44.4 field goal percentage including 33.3 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Seay concluded his regular season career scoring nine points in 31 minutes of play.