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Fresno State forces decisive game three in CBI championship series

terry

Despite shooting just 33.3% from the field on Monday night, Siena was able to knock off Fresno State in the first game of the CBI championship series due to their ability to hit the offensive glass and force turnovers. Jimmy Patsos’ Saints rebounded 41.5% of its missed shots, scoring 11 second-chance points, and they also scored 13 points off of 16 Bulldog turnovers. Those aren’t incredibly high numbers, but they were enough to give Siena the 61-57 victory.

However on Wednesday night the Bulldogs were able to clean things up in those areas, and that combined with hot shooting led to an 89-75 Fresno State victory in game two of the championship series. The two teams will meet in game three Saturday morning at 11:30 a.m. EST, with the game being played at Siena’s on-campus facility.

Fresno State committed 15 turnovers but they did a better job on the boards, limiting Siena to eight offensive rebounds, and their 63.9% shooting from the field proved to be too much for the Saints to overcome. Rodney Terry’s team held a 43-24 lead at the half, and Allen Huddleston led five Fresno State players in double figures with 20 points off the bench.

Outside of one second half stretch in which the Bulldogs allowed Siena to fight back to within 13 points, they did a much better job with their spacing against the Siena pressure. That led to better scoring opportunities, with guards Huddleston, Tyler Johnson (19 points) and Cezar Guerrero (13 points, four assists) taking advantage throughout the night.

Brett Bisping led Siena with 20 points and Marquis Wright added 14, yet while Siena shot better than they did Monday night in Fresno the defense wasn’t as effective. That will need to change if they’re to win the rubber match on Saturday.

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