The Fresno State men’s basketball team (6-24) snapped its 11-game losing streak with a 62-58 win over the University of Wyoming on Tuesday, March 4 at the Save Mart Center. The win came in the Bulldogs’ final home game of the season and was a full-team effort.

Four players ended with double-digit points, those players being  forward Elijah Price (16), forward Alex Crawford (15), guard Zaon Collins (15) and guard Brian Amuneke (11). 

The Bulldogs were also active on the boards, something Head Coach Vance Walberg thought was their best showing all season.

“[The rebounding] was one of the best efforts all year, and I thought we really battled,” Walberg said. “You watch Elijah—he’s in there all the time knocking people around, and Mor [Seck] is just a big old guy who finally started to grab some rebounds. And A.C.[Alex Crawford]—I thought this was his best all-around game in a long, long time.” 

Crawford was one of two Bulldogs to finish with double-digit rebounds. He grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds and Price finished with 13. Center Mor Seck also grabbed nine rebounds, three shy of his season-high. 

In total, the Bulldogs out rebounded the Cowboys 45-33—one of their highest of the season—and had one of their best performances on the offensive boards, grabbing 17 offensive rebounds. 

In terms of running the offense, Collins had a strong outing, recording a team-high four assists. Walberg had high praise for Collins as he takes on more responsibilities on offense.

“He’s a very good point guard,” Walberg said. “We’re asking him to do more than he’s used to, and he’s someone who likes to distribute and not want to score, but to be effective he’s got to score. He’s got to get us 14-15 points every game.”

What happened?

The Bulldogs opened up the first half scoring off of strong drives to the paint, on their way to an early 8-3 lead. As a result, the strong drives translated to a high-octane defense as the Bulldogs were quick to rotate in the 2-3 zone and the first to grab fifty-fifty balls. 

Price said getting to the rim was a point of emphasis from Coach Walberg, given the matchups on offense.

“We knew we could get downhill on them and impose our will,” Price said, “So we wanted to get in the bonus early to get to the line.”

The Bulldogs continued to click on both sides of the ball with the dribble drive offense on full display. Collins kicked it out to Price for his second 3-pointer of the game, already passing his season-high, to grow the ‘Dogs lead to 16-10. 

However, the Cowboys stood their ground through strong defense while knocking down their shots to bring the score to 20-19. 

Both teams began to trade points, but it would be the Bulldogs who would gain the 27-24 edge heading into halftime.

At halftime, the Bulldogs had no contributions from their bench but were kept afloat by Price’s 12 points, which led all scorers, and Crawford’s 7 points. The ‘Dogs were also ahead in the rebound battle, 23-17. The Cowboys’ hot shooting from beyond the arc kept them in the game, with 12 of their 24 total first half points coming from behind the 3-point line.

In the opening minutes of the second half, the Bulldogs remained aggressive on the boards. Following back-to-back second-chance points from Price to spark the offense, the ‘Dogs’ lead grew to 37-28.

But, after a few slow closeouts on defense, the Cowboys continued to make the Bulldogs pay with their 3-point shooting, sparking a 10-0 run to give Wyoming a 38-37 lead. 

The final minutes of the second half was back-and-forth, but after some timely playmaking and shots from Collins and Crawford, the Bulldogs pulled away with the 62-58 win.

After setting the tone with his solid play, Walberg admired Price’s nightly effort despite not showing up in the box score at times.

“He may make buckets, he may not do this or that, but he’s going to give you everything he’s got every night,” Walberg said. “Those are the type of kids I want in my program—those are the culture kids. You get six or seven of those, then you start having some special teams.”

After a slow game against Boise State University, Price wanted to be assertive right out the gate.

“[The mindset was] just to impose my will,” Price said. “Coming off a game where I didn’t score that much, I wanted to be aggressive going into this game and set the tone early.”

What’s next?

The Bulldogs look to carry their momentum to San Jose State University when they take on the Spartans on Saturday, March 8, at 2 p.m. This will be their final game of the season before the Mountain West Men’s Basketball Tournament.