Inadvertent whistle dooms BSU

The Boise State men’s basketball team caught a bad break Saturday night at Taco Bell Arena. The Broncos, facing

JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER La'Shard Anderson (24) goes up for a shot Saturday night against San Diego at Taco Bell Arena. Anderson scored 12 points for BSU. The Bronco lost to the Tereros 56-59.

the Toreros from San Diego University, missed their shot when it rolled out in an attempt to tie the game at 58 all.

With players scrambled for the loose ball, BSU head coach Greg Graham called timeout thinking BSU had the ball and was granted the timeout by the referee. The problem for BSU was that no one had actual possession of the ball, which kept the Broncos from being awarded that timeout.

The referee’s ruling was an inadvertent whistle. The possession arrow, pointing toward the Toreros, gave them the ball with eight seconds remaining. After the Toreros Brandon Johnson made both free throws, his team held a three point lead. BSU’s Anthony Thomas missed the last second three point shot giving San Diego the 59-56 victory.

“There was a plan but when there’s that little time, if even a little thing goes wrong, it’s tough to get a shot up,” BSU forward Paul Noonan said. “We tried to run a play but it got messed up and (Anthony Thomas) had to take a deep (shot).”

Both teams started the game with poor shooting. The Broncos and the Toreros normally shoot over 40 percent a game. After the first half, the two teams combined, were shooting 17-50 from the field. The Broncos also struggled from beyond the three-point line. Coach Graham said that the three-point line hurt BSU again Saturday as they went 3-12 from the field.

Saturday’s game was a close contest from start to finish. The largest lead of 10 points early in the second half belonged to BSU. The two teams traded the lead 19 times over the entire game.

“Once you get that lead, you try and keep your composure and maintain that lead,” BSU Guard La’Shard Anderson said.

Anderson added that when once in the lead, locking down on defense becomes more important to preserve the lead than offense does.

For the Broncos, their record becomes 5-4 this season. This game is the start of a five game homestretch.

“It’s not the way we want to start the homestretch,” Graham said. “We thought getting home would take care of (the win) but it doesn’t. You have to earn it; you don’t deserve anything. San Diego earned tonight and we didn’t.”

The tough loss will have to sit for a while as the Broncos take a week off for finals. The Broncos will resume action Dec. 19 for the second game of a women’s and men’s basketball double-headers at 3:15 p.m. against Houston Baptist at Taco Bell Arena.

The women face Santa Clara at 1 p.m. to open the double-header.

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Posted by Joey McCullough on Dec 13 2009. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.