The Fresno State-Air Force contest ended in a radically different fashion than it began.

Fast-paced, high-scoring and with a lot of intensity.

In the first 10 minutes of the contest, both teams only combined for 17 points. Five out of the Bulldogs’ seven points were from free throws — Fresno State was only 1-13 from the field during that time period.

Despite the abysmal shooting, the game stayed close. The largest lead Air Force had over the Bulldogs was six points — 13-7 — with 9:03 left in the first half. Afterward, Fresno State found its rhythm through seniors Allen Huddleston, Tyler Johnson and freshman Paul Watson.

Huddleston had four points in the final 10 minutes of the first half. Johnson had five — including a put-back dunk at the 3:42 mark off Cezar Guerrero’s missed 3-point attempt — and four rebounds. Watson also added five to the score, and the Bulldogs went into the half with a 27-24 advantage.

A more productive second half?

In the second half, Air Force got off to a hot start and went from a 2-point deficit to an 11-point lead in eight minutes.

The key to that was presence in the paint. The Falcons had 10 rebounds during the 8-minute stretch. The Bulldogs? Two.

Six minutes later, the Falcons lead balloned to 15. They added five more boards to their count (Fresno State had two). With 5:46 left in the game, one would claim the Bulldogs’ season was over.

“[The Falcons] were at the free-throw line,” Johnson said, “and [Huddleston] looked at me and said, ‘You’ve been quiet for a minute. Is this how you want to go out?’”

At that point, the momentum changed.

The Bulldogs tightened their paint presence. They tallied 11 rebounds from then on and were 6 of 10 from the field. In addition, they also notched three steals and Alex Davis made a key last-minute block to keep the game alive for Fresno State.

As Bulldogs coach Rodney Terry said, shooting is one thing, but tight defense is what changes the look of the game.

Now that the Bulldogs have survived the first round, they will face a tough opponent in the quarterfinals. New Mexico is a team that has not only seen itself nationally ranked, but is in the top three in both scoring offense (first) and defense (third).

And in order to do that, the Bulldogs will need to play the way they did in the final five minutes — for 40.