Fresno State pulls away in second half for fifth straight victory

Fresno State was having some difficulties getting away from Delaware State on Friday at Save Mart Center, up four points midway through the second half on a team that was winless and had not been all that close in any of its first five games.

But Paul Watson and an improving defense sparked a decisive run midway through the second half, catapulting the Bulldogs to an 80-59 victory and a 5-0 start for the first time since opening 7-0 in 2006-’07.

The 6-foot-7 forward, who had hit just one of his first eight shots, came out of the under-12 timeout and hit two 3-pointers and scored off an offensive rebound to kick start a 16-0 run.

In just 4:14, the Bulldogs went from up four to up 20 at 64-44. They hit 5 of 9 shots including 2 of 4 at the 3-point line while scuttling the Hornets’ offense.

“I think our guys did it with defense,” coach Rodney Terry said. “We knew coming in that we were going to have to really defend the 3-point line. They were going to be a team that was really going to execute their half-court offense. They were going to challenge us defensively to not get spread out. They were a team that was going to come in and run some five-man motion and in the midst of running some of their sets guys could just raise up and make shots. They did that for a better part of the first half.”

They didn’t, for the decisive part of the second half. Delaware State between the timeouts missed all eight of its shots and had one turnover, as the Bulldogs breezed away.

Cezar Guerrero, who hit his first five shots including four from the 3-point line, led the Bulldogs with 20 points and had six rebounds and three assists.

Marvelle Harris had 17 with nine assists and seven rebounds and Torren Jones had his third double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Watson finished with 13 points.

Lewis update – Senior guard Julien Lewis was not with the Bulldogs while dealing with a personal issue. He is expected to rejoin the team for practice Saturday when they start preparations for a game Monday at No. 21 Oregon.

“There are times with the ebbs and flows of the season and sometimes players battle through certain things, personal situations and things of that nature,” Terry said. “I look forward to his teammates picking him up and have him ready for us in terms of our preparation for (Saturday) and get him ready for our trip up there on Sunday. He’ll be with us.”

Lewis played an average of 17 minutes in the first four games, hitting only 6 of 21 shots (28.6 percent) including 1 of 9 from beyond the 3-point line. He is averaging 5.0 points and 1.8 rebounds per game.

Down a guard against Delaware State, Terry was able to void working some of the Bulldogs’ guards overtime … once they were able to get away from the Hornets.

Freshman guards Sam Bittner, Grant Shell and Ountae Campbell got their first minutes of the season, which meant Guerrero, Harris, Lionel Ellison and Watson all were right around their season averages for minutes played.

The end – Delaware State had not shot the ball well coming in hitting just 37.6 percent of its shots including 28.7 percent from distance.

But the final 11:55, starting with that 0 of 8 coming out of the timeout, they got close to nothing against the Bulldogs. The Hornets made 4 of their last 19 shots including 1 of 8 at the 3-point line and turned over the ball twice.

“All credit to our defense,” Guerrero said. “I was out during that period of time and Lionel Ellison, he’s a pit bull … no, not a pit bull, a Bulldog. You have Marvelle, Paul Watson, Torren Jones and Karachi Edo. Those guys are amazing. We were talking at the other end of the floor – they’re the ones that won the game for us with their defense and their tenacity. I’m so happy for having those type of teammates.

“That’s what Coach Terry preaches – defense. So does Coach (Jerry) Wainwright, Coach (Byron) Jones, Coach (Kenton) Paulino, Coach (Nick) Matson. It’s something that we do every day.”

Et cetera – The Bulldogs outrebounded Delaware State 51-32, not counting team rebounds. Of those rebounds, 18 came at the offensive end to match a season high set in an 80-72 victory over Lamar. Jones had five of his 10 rebounds at the offensive end and Karachi Edo had six of his eight at the offensive end.

▪ Guerrero over the past three games has hit 17 of 29 shots (58.6 percent) including 13 of 21 on 3-pointers (61.9). “He has put the time in,” Terry said. “I said to our team he has worked really hard on his shooting. He has been in the gym. He has put time in. I think it was along the lines of, ‘You’re going to get what you invest in this game. If you invest in this game and you work then you’ll see positive results,’ and he has seen that over the last couple of times. He has seen that ball go through the net because he put the time in.”

▪ Harris with 17 points pushed his career total to 1,407 and moved past Gary Alcorn (1,401 from 1957-59) and Rod Higgins (1,402 from 1979-82) on the Fresno State career scoring list. He is tied for 11th with Roy Jones (1973-76).

▪ Attendance at Save Mart Center was 5,959.

▪ The Bulldogs have scored at least 80 points in three of their five games – winning 80-72 against Lamar, 82-65 at Rice and 80-59 against Delaware State. Fresno State last season scored 80 or more in three of its 32 games and two were against non-Division teams in Bristol University and St. Katherine. The other 80-point game came against San Jose State.

This story was originally published November 27, 2015 at 9:02 PM with the headline "Fresno State pulls away in second half for fifth straight victory."