Boxscore Louisiana Tech's desperation shot didn't fall Saturday as Fresno State squeaked out a 60-58 win over the Bulldogs at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Tech is now 6-7 overall and 1-3 in the Western Athletic Conference while Fresno State climbed to 9-4 and 3-1.
Trailing by the final score, Tech got the ball when
Paul Millsap pulled down a defensive rebound off of a missed 3-point attempt by Fresno State's Ja'Vance Coleman. But Fresno State was under the bonus limit and had fouls to give, which eliminated Tech's chances of a getting a good look at a open shot.
"Playing the last 17 seconds with the ball turned out to be not good because they were under the limit and had too many fouls to give," Tech coach Keith Richard said. "It was just good clock management. It's what we would have done if the ball had bounced the other way."
Quick fouls by Dominic White and Donovan Morris forced the Bulldogs to keep trying to make an inbound pass for an open shot, and in the end, Fresno State's Mustfa Al-Sayyad got his hand on the final inbounds pass just enough to eat another second off the clock and forcing Millsap to launch a desperation shot from the corner.
Like 51 of Tech's other field goal attempts on the night, it didn't fall and Fresno State escaped with the win.
"I thought our effort and energy was outstanding," Richard said. "We defended the ball well. But we're still struggling on the offensive end. If we could have only made one or two more of those shots."
Tech connected on only 29.7 percent (22-74) of its shots from the floor in the contest while Fresno State turned in a 41.1 shooting percentage (24-58).
"The game was won and lost by players making and not making plays," Richard said. "Unfortunately they made more and we didn't make some that we should have. It was just players making plays."
Daevon Haskins tied his career-high of 14 points while adding six rebounds and eight assists to lead Tech while Millsap added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Wayne Powell also turned in a strong night for Tech with 13 points and eight rebounds.
Morris topped Fresno State with 16 points while FSU's Dreike Bouldin, a native of nearby Shreveport, La., turned in a career-best 23 rebounds while chipping in with 10 points.
FSU also won the battle on the boards and outrebounded Tech 48-40.
But in the end, it all came down to those last 17 seconds.
"They fouled us quick," Haskins said. "The play Coach (Richard) drew up was a good play, we just couldn't get it off quick enough because they had those fouls to give."
Tech returns to WAC action on Thursday when the Bulldogs play a 9 p.m. contest at San Jose State.
