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Broncos struggle for victory over ‘Dogs
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Boise State (19-10, 9-6 Western Athletic Conference) waited until the final 15 minutes to bring their game to Taco Bell Arena Thursday night.
The Broncos hosted No.9 Fresno State University (12-19, 3-12 WAC) and left the court with a 79-65 triumph against the Bulldogs.
The two teams last met Feb. 9, when the Broncos suffered an 88-82 loss. Fresno still leads the all-time series against the Broncos 13-10, but head coach Greg Graham has kept the Bulldogs from posting a win at Taco Bell Arena since the 2003-04 season.
BSU came into the game off a 104-92 win against New Mexico State Monday night. The game served as the Broncos’ season high scoring match, with six players scoring in double figures. Senior guard Jamar Greene had a career-high 19 points.
Thursday’s match got off to a tight start with eight lead changes within the first 10 minutes and neither team leading by more than five points. Kurt Cunningham, junior center for the Broncos, started the action with a jumper 40 seconds into the game.
“It’s always important to start well,” Cunningham said. “Coach always gets on us about getting off to a fast start. I think we did that tonight.”
From there the teams battled back and forth, each making mediocre plays, keeping both from running away with the lead.
That is, until a game-changing dunk came from BSU junior forward Ike Okoye, with two minutes left in the half. The Bulldogs never took the lead back, and the Broncos headed to the locker room with a 38-34 lead.
BSU came into the second half seemingly unstoppable, quickly taking a 10 point lead. Fresno slowly worked back into reach of the Broncos, coming within three points with 10 minutes left.
However, something changed in the minds of the BSU players. Cunningham started the runaway with a layup, and soon the Broncos were back up by 10.
“We knew we didn’t want it to be a close game down the stretch,” senior forward Mark Sanchez said. “That’s how it was at their place. They knocked down free throws when they needed to, so we wanted to separate ourselves and play to our favor.”
Junior guard Anthony Thomas and Okoye each provided dunks within 30 seconds of each other, getting both the fans and team hyped up. Fresno never had a chance, and Sanchez sank two free throws to close the game.
“If we play defense from the start and we play like we can compete with anybody, we can pull away and get a good win,” Greene said.
Sanchez, Greene, Okoye and Thomas each left the court with more than 10 points added to their stats. Thomas also claimed five assists and two steals, while sophomore forward Paul Noonan sank three shots from beyond the arc.
The men shot 55 percent from the paint, 31.3 percent from beyond the arc and went 8-12 from the free throw line. They also had a total of nine steals and 34 rebounds, 29 being defensive.
The Broncos will head to the Western Athletic Conference Tournament March 10-14. Check out arbiteronline.com to get updates and stats from the tournament.
SILVER HENRY
Arbiter Journalist