Boxscore RENO, Nev. ? Fresno State battled back from a 10-point halftime deficit Thursday to take an 84-81 Western Athletic Conference quarterfinal win over Louisiana Tech at the Lawlor Events Center.
Tech ended its season at 14-15 while Fresno State (16-13) will move on to a semifinal game on Friday.
Louisiana Tech stormed out to a 42-32 halftime advantage as the red-hot Bulldogs hit on 52.9 percent (18-34) of their shots before intermission while holding Fresno State to a 38.2 shooting percentage (13-34).
But in a game that was a tale of two halves, Louisiana Tech?s feel-good first half tale turned into a horror story in the second stanza. Tech connected on just 35.5 percent (11-31) of its shots in the second half and got colder in overtime when the ?Dogs shot only 11.1 percent (1-of-11).
?It was a really a tale of two halves,? Tech coach Keith Richard said. ?We played well in the first half, but our inability to defend in the second half, especially from the 3-point line, really hurt us.?
Fresno State made only 3-of-12 attempted 3-pointers in the first half but heated up in the second stanza to nail 7-of-13 long-range attempts after intermission.
?We just came out kind of sluggish in the second half,? Tech forward
Paul Millsap said. ?We just didn?t get it done.?
Millsap led all scorers with 25 points and added a game-high 17 rebounds while
Daevon Haskins added 16 points for Tech.
Ja?Vance Coleman led Fresno State with 24 points and eight rebounds while Donovan Morris added 14 points for FSU.
?Coleman and Morris are dangerous when they get hot,? Richard said. ?When those two heat up from behind the 3-point line, Fresno State is a good team.
?It?s been an up-and-down season for us ? you can tell by the way we finished 14-15,? Richard said. ?We really needed some defensive stops in the second half we didn?t get. But we still could have won the game if we would have done some of the little things that when combined will give you a win. Those missed free throws and our lack of defense in the second half was the difference.?
Tech hit on 17-of-27 free throws on the game after hitting 3-of-4 in the first half.
?It?s a simple statement, but it really was a tale of two halves,? Fresno State coach Ray Lopes said. ?We made a simple adjustment at halftime. It was a simple challenge.
?Nothing was really said at halftime. They played like boys in the first half. I challenged them to be men in the second half.?
Tech trailed by as many as six points at 67-61 late in the second half but battled back to have a chance for a late win in regulation.
Donell Allick, who scored 11 for Tech, went to the free-throw line to shoot two with Tech trailing 74-74 with 7.2 seconds left in regulation. Allick sank the first attempt to tie the game but missed the second and Fresno State?s last second attempt didn?t get off before the buzzer sounded to send the game into overtime.
Tech took an early lead in overtime on a 3-pointer from
Wayne Powell, who finished with 10 points and right rebounds.
But Fresno State would outscore Tech 10-4 the rest of the way to take the win.
Coleman hit on a pair of free throws with 12.3 seconds left to take the winning 3-point margin of victory. The Bulldogs had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but Haskins couldn?t get his final shot off before the final buzzer sounded.
To add injury to insult, his attempt hit nothing but net as it swished through the basket.
?I still liked our chances in overtime,? Haskins said. ?We fought hard, but it just wasn?t our night.?
