Road woes for Bulldogs continue on the islands
Steve Cleveland |
Staff Reports
The Collegian
Apparently, the phrase home sweet home does mean something.
In eight home games this season at the Save Mart Center, Fresno State is 7-1. After Saturday’s 73-65 loss to Hawaii, those same Bulldogs are now 2-6 on the road.
The Rainbow Warriors (9-6, 3-2) were led by Julian Sensley, who scored 21 points in 34 minutes en route to the victory.
While the Hawaii offense attacked the Bulldog defense with a mixture of inside-outside shots, Fresno State was stuck to an almost one-dimensional attack.
The Bulldogs (9-7, 2-3) attempted 37 three pointers, hitting 13 of them, but it also made them inept inside the paint, where the Bulldogs only scored 10 points.
The loss comes sort of unconventionally as Fresno State committed only eight turnovers to Hawaii's 15 in addition to out-rebounding the Rainbow Warriors by a tally of 37 to 36.
Fresno State also held the Hawaii bench scoreless, but it was Hawaii's 15-0 run in the second half that opened up the lead in the game.
"We just didn't shoot well in the second half and we had nothing consistent inside," Cleveland said. "Our legs looked a little tired and our transition defense broke down at times."
As was a consistent theme to the game, Fresno State and Hawaii countered and countered back with multiple point runs.
Junior forward Quinton Hosely, who had a double-double with 18 points and 16 rebounds, led the Bulldogs comeback with seven consecutive points, bringing them to within five of the Rainbow Warriors.
Even with Hosely's clutch efforts, the Bulldogs were unable to cut the lead to less than four points, even with consecutive three-pointers by Fresno State's Donovan Morris with under a minute to go in the game.
The Sensley led Rainbow Warriors were able to connect on free throws late in the game, clinching the victory.
"Hawaii is a good team and I thought we did a good job on Sensley in the first half," Cleveland said. "Our rebounding effort was outstanding and now we just have to regroup to move on."
There is some good news that the Bulldogs can savor from this trip, they will be returning home soon.
New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech and Idaho all will come into the Save Mart Center next week before the Bulldogs hit the road for a pair.
"The positive from this is we're home for the next three games," Cleveland said.
All three home games come within a span of five days.
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