Thanks to their two departing seniors, the Bulldogs won their final regular-season home game, defeating the San Jose State Spartans 82-68.
Senior guard Jake Heidbreder led the Bulldogs with 20 points while fellow graduate guard Cameron Faas followed with 12 points. Head Coach Vance Walberg was proud of his seniors’ performance in their last game at the Save Mart Center.
“I thought they both had very nice games for us,” Walberg said.
The Bulldogs played most of Tuesday night’s game against the Spartans with just eight players. All five starters played at least 30 minutes, with Heidbreder playing all but 18 seconds. Of the eight, seven different Bulldogs scored during their 14-point home win over the Spartans.
Walberg said when he was hired in April 2024, he had already missed four weeks of transfer portal time. This past offseason, being his first full one, he said the main thing he wanted was “good quality people” to help establish a culture. Walberg said of his two departing seniors, both fit that mold.
“I want good, hard-working players, and if you’re a person that doesn’t love to be in the gym, I don’t want you,” Walberg said. “These two exemplify the things that I like to see in players.”
Both players transferred in this season, with Heidbreder being from Clemson University and Faas from the University of Missouri, Kansas City. Walberg called them “good guys” and players to help build a good culture.
Heidbreder and Faas said they were both grateful for this season at Fresno State, but both said their goals entering this season were to leave Fresno State better than they found it.
“Obviously, we wanted to improve from last year, but it wasn’t really in the rear view that much coming in here,” Faas said. “We were just trying to make an impact, play our game, and give everything we got.
The win snaps a four-game losing streak the Bulldogs were on heading into Tuesday night, and Walberg is hopeful the win over the Spartans can spark momentum heading into the final regular-season game and the Mountain West Tournament.
“Winning is the best drug in the world,” Walberg said.
The Bulldogs will wrap up the regular season on March 7 on the road against Grand Canyon University, with tip-off scheduled for 5 p.m. The status of several players ahead of the Mountain West Tournament, which starts on March 11, is still up in the air. However, Walberg did rule out junior guard Zaon Collins for the team’s regular-season finale against the Antelopes.
