The Fresno State men’s basketball team could not complete the comeback in front of a loud home crowd, losing 68-57 to the Grand Canyon Antelopes.
Despite shooting 23% from the field in the first half, the Bulldogs were able to close a seven-point deficit coming out of halftime.
“So to me, the six points that we gave away from the free throw line in the first half, I felt that we’d be okay,” said Head Coach Vance Walberg.
The Bulldogs took their first lead of the game, seven minutes into the second half following a turnover and made basket by DeShawn Gory. He led the ‘Dogs with 19 points and 10 rebounds. After a slow start to the game, Gory was able to knock down shots in the second half, helping the ‘Dogs offensively.
Although the freshman finished with his fifth double-double of the season, Walberg wants to see more out of his young forward.
“I thought it was DeShawn’s, one of his worst games of the year,” Walberg said. “I know he had 20 [points] and 10 [rebounds], I thought defensively he should have been a lot better than he was.”
An issue that hurt the Bulldogs last season crept up late in the game against the Lopes.
The Bulldogs finished the game with 33 rebounds compared to 47 from the visiting Antelopes. Of the Lopes’ 47 rebounds, 17 of them came off of their own misses. The Lopes were able to score 21 second chance points.
“Defense starts on our shot,” Walberg said. “When we shoot, that’s when the defense starts, which we got to make sure we get our transition d[efense]. And then it ends when they shoot and when we have to rebound, and we just didn’t rebound.”
The ‘Dogs got into foul trouble late in the game, giving the Lopes free opportunities at the free throw line. The Lopes scored just once from the field in the final two minutes of the game as the rest came from the charity stripe.
Jake Heidbreder, the Bulldogs’ leading scorer this season, scored 12 points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field and was 0-for-3 from beyond the arc.
Only two Bulldogs were able to connect from beyond the arc, being David Douglas Jr. and Zaon Collins who each made just one 3-pointer.
Moving forward, Walberg may opt for something new offensively.
“Honestly, what I’m probably going to do is, Wilson [Jacques] actually is not a bad little 3-point shooter, believe it or not,” Walberg said. “I may set him up for a couple of those, you know, just to take some pressure off the other guys.”
Walberg and the ‘Dogs will now get a week-long break before turning their attention to a road matchup against the Air Force Falcons on Jan. 31 at Clune Arena. Tip off is set for 12 p.m.
