Feb. 12, 2009

Final Stats

RUSTON, La. -- Junior forward Sylvester Seay recorded 11 points and four rebounds as Fresno State came up short, 55-42, in the "Battle of Bulldogs" Thursday night on Karl Malone Court. The contest marked the second of three games to be played over six days.

"We defended the ball well and kept ourselves in the game," head coach Steve Cleveland said. "We need to have good starts and focus on making plays."

Freshman guard Paul George and sophomore forward Nedeljko Golubovic both finished with eight points while freshmen guards Mychal Ladd and Brandon Sperling added 7 and 6 points, respectively.

Kyle Gibson started the scoring with a pull-up jumper at the top of the key to give LA Tech a 2-0 lead.

After falling down 4-1, George completed a three-point play by driving hard to the basket, grabbing his own offensive rebound and drawing a foul while lofting a soft floater through the net and adding the free-throw to tie the tilt at four with 13:19 left in the first half.

Louisiana Tech led by as many as eight in the first half (19-11) with 5:20 before halftime.

Fresno State followed with a 7-1 run on a Ladd lay-up and five Bulldogs free throws to cut the deficit to two.

At the break, Fresno State trailed 25-21 as George paced the `Dogs with six points and three rebounds in a defensive clash. Fresno State earned 12 more free throws than LA Tech during the opening session.

Louisiana Tech blazed out of the locker room to begin the second half on an 8-2 run, highlighted by a couple of Kyle Gibson 3-pointers, to a 33-23 home team advantage.

Louisiana Tech answered with 10 straight points for their largest lead of the game at 43-25.

Fresno State fought their way out of the 18-point deficit with an 11-2 run to get within 45-36 at the 5:30 mark to play in the game.

But, LA Tech controlled the clock and pulled away with two minutes to go as they held on for a 55-42 victory. Fresno State fell to 10-15 on the season with a 2-8 record in WAC games as Louisiana Tech improved to 10-15 for the season and 4-8 in conference action.

Fresno State returns to the hardwood as the `Dogs travel to Las Cruces for Valentine's Day and a 6 p.m. PST tip-off this Saturday, Feb. 14, that will be shown on the Bulldog Sports Network and www.espn360.com.

Click HERE to read the Fresno State men's basketball "Bulldog Blog"

"Join the State - Fresno State!" - The `Dogs continue on the road as they travel to New Mexico State for a Valentine's Day contest this Saturday, February 14 at 6:00 p.m. The game will be broadcasted on the Bulldog Sports Network and can be seen on KAIL-TV (MY 53) and My Digital 7.1 on HDTV. The `Dogs return to the Save Mart Center on Thursday, February 19 as they host Hawai'i at 8:00 pm on ESPN2. It's Thursday Night at the Save Mart Center and all Fresno State and Fresno Unified School District faculty and staff can receive $2 tickets with presentation of their ID (limit 4 tickets) at the Save Mart Center box office. Tickets are on sale now through the Save Mart Center box office, by calling (559) 485-TIXS or online at ticketmaster.com.