Fresno State’s young, up-and-coming bench players were the stars in the quarterfinal match in the Basketball Classic against Youngstown State on Wednesday night. The different faces on the floor helped boost Fresno State to an 80-71 win, moving them on to the semifinal round. 

The bench production was key in the victory for the Bulldogs outscoring the Penguins 41-8.

A trio of sophomores made up of guards Donavan Yap and Destin Whitaker, and seven-foot one big man Braxton Meah, all had season highs in the victory scoring in double digits. 

“I knew we were gonna have some guys play some more minutes and I told them we were confident in what we can do. You saw some times some really good plays and, just like our other guys on the team, you saw some times of inexperience or some plays that we don’t like,” head coach Justin Hutson said. 

 The Bulldogs’ usual starter Anthony Holland was ruled out before the game with an injury, giving the other role players a chance to play significant roles in the game.   

“Anthony pulled his hamstring so we’ll see how he’s doing, and Jordan [Campbell] pulled a muscle in his ribs, so he was on kind of a minute restriction. I didn’t want to play him too much, but you know we will see how it is tomorrow,” Hutson said. 

With Holland on the sideline, the Bulldogs began with the usual four starters and added Deon Stroud to take Holland’s place. 

The game started with another slow start for the ‘Dogs as they found themselves down 9-2 with 14:43 to go in the first half.

Fresno State quickly erased that deficit after going on its own 9-0 run led by Whitaker, Yap, and Meah, making the score 11-9 with just under 12 minutes to go.

The Penguins were able to take a 32-28 lead on back-to-back free throws by Dwayne Cohill with 1:39 left until halftime.

The Bulldogs were able to then make it a two-point deficit going into the locker room after a Stroud jumper, making the score at the half 34-32.

Yap was the surprise leader in the first half for the ‘Dogs, scoring 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field and 2-of-5 from downtown, adding a steal and an assist as well.

Fresno State shot the ball well inside in the first half, shooting 41% on 11-of-27 from the field but struggled to shoot beyond the arc shooting 21% on 4-of-19. 

The ‘Dogs bench outscored the Penguins bench 21-6 in the first half, with Meah contributing eight of those points on 3-of-3 from the floor.   

Cohill was the Penguins leading scorer in the first half with 15 points and also adding four assists and three rebounds. 

The second half started with Youngstown State going on a 5-0 run pushing its lead 47-37g. 

Big man Orlando Robinson answered back with an 8-0 run by himself, hitting a free throw, two layups and a 3-pointer all in a span of three minutes. Tying the game up at 51 with 10 minutes left. 

The Bulldogs then went on a 12-0 run with two 3-pointers by Whitaker, who hyped up the crowd when he stuck his tongue out on his second three while trotting back on defense. 

“Tremendously, tremendously we have confidence he can make shots if he gets a whole bunch of them,” Hutson said.

After taking the lead, Fresno State limited Youngstown State within a 5-point deficit for the rest of the game. 

After a slow first half with 4 points, Robinson led the team in scoring, finishing with 16 points going 4-of-11 from the field and 1-of-3 from downtown. He also grabbed 13 boards, adding three assists and a steal.

After having 10 points in the first half, Yap finished the game with 13 points on 3-of-7 from the floor and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc.

Meah and Whitaker were the two top scorers behind Robinson with 14 points each, Whitaker went 5-of-9 from the field and 4-of-7 from downtown. Meah went 6-of-6 from the field and 2-of-3 from the free throw line, adding five rebounds and a block as well. 

Meah and Robinson create the duo lineup when they are on the floor together which is a very tough lineup for other teams to handle down low in a zone defense. 

“When they play zone, Orlando and Braxton have a really good rapport with each other, and the rapport that they have with each other you saw tonight in the one three one zone and the two three zone that they played. And Braxton probably played his best game that he’s been here on both ends,” Hutson said.

Cohill did everything he could for the Penguins, scoring 26 points, dishing eight assists and adding six rebounds. 

The Bulldogs shot pretty well overall for the night, shooting 50% on 27-of-54 from the field and improved to 32% on 9-of-28 from downtown compared to their 21% in the first half.  

Fresno State moves on to a semifinal matchup at the Save Mart Center against Southern Utah on Monday, March 28. With tip-off currently scheduled for 7 p.m.