Men's Basketball Drops First Game of West Coast Classic to Fresno State
Photo by Matt Beaty
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Fresno
State won the opening game of the West Coast Classic with a 65-59
victory over Northern Arizona at the Rolle Activity Center Tuesday
night. Fresno State improved to 2-0 on the season, while NAU
dropped to 1-2 overall.
Cameron Jones led Northern Arizona with 23 points on 9 of 15
shooting. Gabe Rogers added 13 points, all in the first half, and
Eric Platt contributed 10 points.
Fresno State’s Sylvester Seay had 22 points and Paul George
added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Seay did most of
his damage in the second half, scoring 14 points and nine of Fresno
State's first 11 points.
Fresno State jumped out to a 19-9 lead in the first half at the
12:01 mark before the Lumberjacks responded with a 10-0 run to tie
the game. Rogers hit back-to-back three-pointers and Jones added
two baskets during the run as the game remained tight the rest of
the half.
The game featured five ties and 10 lead changes but Fresno took
the lead for good with a basket by Brandon Sperling at 17:13 in the
second half for a 43-41 advantage. NAU was held scoreless over a
span of 8:21 of the second half but only trailed by five with eight
minutes left.
NAU pulled within two points on a three-pointer by Platt with 2:53
left but never got any closer. The Lumberjacks shot just 29 percent
in the second half and made only 2 of 8 three-point attempts in the
second half to foil any comeback efforts.
NAU will play host to Pacific on Thursday in its second game of
the West Coast Classic. The game can be seen on Universityhouse
(Dish Network 9411) and heard on the Lumberjack radio Network
(Flagstaff KAFF 930 AM). Tipoff is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. at the
Rolle Activity Center.
West Coast Classic
November 17, 2009
Fresno State 65, Northern Arizona 59
November 19, 2009
Pacific at Northern Arizona
Santa Clara at San Diego State
November 22, 2009
Santa Clara at Pacific
November 23, 2009
San Diego State at Fresno State
November 25, 2009
San Diego State at Pacific
Northern Arizona at Santa Clara
November 28, 2009
Fresno State at Santa Clara
Northern Arizona at San Diego State
December 1, 2009
Pacific at Fresno State
