Mustangs lose to Bulldogs in double OT
The SMU men’s basketball team could not pull out theirsecond straight overtime win as the visiting Fresno State Bulldogs(11-9, 7-4 WAC) came away victorious in a 75-74 thriller onSaturday night.
The Mustangs (9-12, 3-8 WAC), who defeated the Nevada Wolf Packlast Thursday matched the Bulldogs through regulation and much ofthe two overtimes in front of 3,872 fans at Moody Coliseum.
The final blow came from the precision and shot-making skills ofBulldog guard Shantay Legans’ hands. He nailed a 15-foot jumpshot with five seconds left in the second overtime to slam the dooron any chance for a Mustang win.
Legans finished with 21 points and eight assists.
Senior forward Kris Lowe was not able to pull it out for theMustangs as his baseline jumper at the buzzer fell just short ofpropelling the Ponies to back-to-back wins for the first time sincelate December. It was Lowe, however, who sent the Mustangs into thesecond overtime with two successful free throws stemming fromReggie Butler’s foul.
The game was close all the way, as neither team led by more thanseven points at any time.
Junior guard Marcus West led the Bulldog charge with 17first-half points, but Simpson’s lay-up with 38 secondsremaining drove SMU toward a 25-24 lead at the intermission.
The second half saw a 13-0 Mustang run capped off by athree-pointer from sophomore guard Bryan Hopkins with 7:24 to play.The shot attributed to three of Hopkins’ team-leading 25points, and gave the Ponies their largest lead of the game at46-39.
The remaining minutes, however, saw the Fresno State offensecharge back, as junior forward Chris Adams contributed eight of his10 points in the final 5:10 of regulation. And it was Adams’lay-up with two seconds left in regulation that forced the firstovertime.
The first 40 minutes of play saw 10 lead changes, and theback-and-forth nature of the game continued beyond the regulationclock.
Offensive output from Hopkins, Simpson, and sophomore guardBrian Miller set up Lowe’s two free throws, leading to a tiegame with both teams notching 67 points heading into the secondovertime.
The second overtime period was just as tense as the first, asMiller drained a three-point shot with 1:32 left to play, puttingthe Mustangs up by two. West had an answer, however, as he nailed athree-pointer of his own to regain the lead for Fresno State. Hefinished with a career-high 32 points, completing nine of 13 frombeyond the arc.
Hopkins appeared to be the hero as he shifted the momentum backto the SMU bench, successfully hitting an off-balanced jumper with34 seconds on the clock. But following a Fresno State timeout,Legans was handed the ball and the opportunity for his game-winningshot. The Goleta, California native was the only member of eitherteam to play all 50 minutes of the nail-biter. Legans made the shotto win the game.
The loss drops the Mustangs to eighth in the WAC standings,while propelling Fresno State into a virtual fourth-place tie withthe Rice Owls. The Mustangs are 0-and-2 against the Bulldogs thisyear losing both games by one point.
For the season, the Mustangs have lost six games by three pointsor less. They have won three games by three points or less. Thisfact has led to many exciting games for the Mustangs, but the teamhas been on the losing end of games in most of the games.
SMU will next travel to San Jose State, where they will take onthe last-place Spartans (5-15, 0-10 WAC), who have lost 12 straightgames. Tip-off is this Thursday at 9 p.m.
