Tulsa
Fresno State
Tulsa Edges Fresno State
1/22/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 22, 2005
TULSA, Okla. (AP) - Oswaldo Gonzalez converted a missed free throw with 16 seconds remaining to give Tulsa a 68-65 victory over Fresno State Saturday.
The victory snapped an 0-6 start in the Western Athletic Conference for Tulsa (4-12, 1-6), the team's worst start in conference play since 1950-51 when it started 0-6 in the Missouri Valley Conference.
With an opportunity to tie with a 3-pointer, Fresno State (11-6, 5-3) put the ball in the hands of guard JaVance Coleman, who led all scorers with 25 points. Tulsa double-teamed Coleman and Fresno State failed to get off a shot.
Gonzalez, a 6-10 senior playing his first year for Tulsa and coming off a career-high 12 points in his previous game, bailed Tulsa out after both Jarius Glenn and Chris Wallace missed the front end of one-and-one opportunities in the final minute.
Tulsa shot 49.1 percent from the field and forced the Bulldogs into 19 turnovers.
"Oswaldo's play was huge, huge, huge," said TU interim coach Alvin "Pooh" Williamson, who notched his first WAC victory and second overall since taking the reins on Dec. 25. "Today our guys were just relentless. They refused to lose and the joy in the locker room makes up for a lot of the ones we left out there."
The Golden Hurricane trailed 60-52 with 7:11 remaining but launched a comeback sparked by coast-to-coast baskets by Wallace and point guard Brett McDade. Tulsa led 64-63 when Glenn made two free throws with 1:52 left. Coleman cut it to 66-65 with a steal and layup.
Glenn led Tulsa with 18 points, followed by McDade with 15 and Wallace and Anthony Price with 11 each. Mustafa Al-Sayyad had 12 points and nine rebounds for Fresno, while Dreike Bouldin had 11 points and nine boards.
