The Fresno State men’s basketball team defeated the Colorado State Rams 79-69 on Jan. 13 to secure its second Mountain West Conference win of the season.
It is the first time the Bulldogs have beaten the Rams since 2019, by a near identical score of 78-67. The win snaps a 13-game losing streak against the Rams.
“I think it means a lot,” said Head Coach Vance Walberg after the Bulldogs’ victory. “More importantly, it means a lot to my players. They’ve been working hard … It’s just nice to put everything together.”
In the game seven years ago, Bulldogs’ guard Deshon Taylor scored 21 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the field. He was also perfect from the free-throw line, making all nine shots.
Tonight, Bulldogs’ guard Jake Heidbreder scored 23 points on 3-for-6 shooting from the field. He, too, was perfect from the charity stripe, making all 16 of his free throws.
“End of a game, the ball has to be in [Heidbreder’s] hands,” Walberg said. “We’ve lost two games because it wasn’t.”
Heidbreder broke the program record, previously held by Rod Higgins, with 40 consecutive swishes from the charity stripe over his last 10 games. His last miss came on Nov. 21 against the New Orleans Privateers, where he shot 7-for-8 from the free-throw line.
The home crowd fed the Bulldogs’ efforts. The Red Wave was loud and provided momentum swings for the ‘Dogs.
Early in the second half, the Rams went on a 17-2 run to tie the game at 41.
After two free throws from Heidbreder and an alley-oop from Zaon Collins to DeShawn Gory to go up 45-41, the Bulldogs never let the Rams get within five points for the rest of the game.
Walberg credited the crowd as a “big help” in the Bulldogs securing the win.
The ‘Dogs also have an emerging third scorer in Gory. In his last four games, he has averaged 15 points and 10 rebounds. On the season, Gory is averaging just under 11 points per game and ranks third on the Bulldogs behind Heidbreder and Collins.
Turnovers have plagued the Bulldogs’ conference losses, but the ‘Dogs limited the mistakes against the Rams, giving the ball away just seven times.
“These guys know — [if] we keep it [the turnovers] in single digits, we will always give ourselves a good chance of winning the game,” Walberg said.
The ‘Dogs will look to start a Mountain West winning streak on Jan. 17 as they host the Wyoming Cowboys at the Save Mart Center. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.
