The Fresno State men’s basketball team regained its swagger Wednesday night and evened the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) championship series with an 89-75 victory over the Siena Saints (19-18) in Game 2.
The Bulldogs’ win sets up a winner-take-all scenario for Saturday.
“God is great all the time! Great team effort vs. a really good young team on the road in a great College BBall atmosphere!,” Fresno State head coach Rodney Terry tweeted after the game. “We must keep grinding.”
Still having a bad taste in their mouths from Monday’s loss, the ‘Dogs (21-17) used that as motivation to fuel them in a tough postseason road environment. They built a 19-point halftime lead, which they were able to sustain in the second to ultimately come away with the W.
The Saints, who edged the ‘Dogs in Game 1 (61-57), struggled on their home court particularly in the first half when they gave up 43 points and 76.2 percent shooting. Giving up a double-digit lead early hurt the Saints, as they were not able to make a comeback. They got as close as 13 at one point but weren’t able to cut deeper into the Fresno State lead.
Terry said after Monday’s Game 1 loss that the ‘Dogs needed to regain their competitiveness and establish dominance in the paint in order to have a chance to be successful. The Bulldogs took their coach’s word to heart, outrebounded the Saints 28-18 and rejected seven shots. Six of the blocks came from junior Alex Davis.
Senior Allen Huddleston led the team, and he was just one of five Bulldogs in double figures. Huddleston shot perfect from the field (6 of 6) en route to a game-high 20 points. Tyler Johnson tallied 19, Paul Watson 14, Cezar Guerrero 13; and Marvelle Harris 11.
Siena forward Brett Bisping posted 20 points in the loss, and Marquis Wright contributed 14. Saints’ leading scored Rob Poole (14.7 points per game) only had seven points and fouled out.
The Bulldogs have come out on top in 13 of their last 17 contests. When the ‘Dogs and Saints take the court Saturday, they will be two of six teams still competing in postseason tournaments. The other four are part of the NCAA Tournament’s Final Four (Kentucky, Connecticut, Wisconsin and Florida).
Fresno State and Siena will clash in Game 3 Saturday morning in Albany, N.Y., with the winner of the matchup being crowned CBI Tournament champion. The Saturday championship game is set for 8:30 a.m. PDT and will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.
