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Wyoming outlasts Fresno State in triple OT

Jan 18, 2015 - 6:11 AM Fresno, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Larry Nance Jr. and Derek Cooke Jr. both supplied double-doubles in No. 25 Wyoming's 70-65 triple-overtime win over Fresno State on Saturday night.

Nance led the Cowboys with 21 points while pulling down 11 rebounds, while Cooke tallied 12 points and 15 boards. Josh Adams chipped in 16 points for Wyoming (16-3, 5-1 MWC), which bounced back from its 60-52 home loss to San Diego State earlier in the week.

Paul Watson had 19 points and seven rebounds for the Bulldogs (9-10, 4-2), who had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Marvelle Harris and Cezar Guerrero finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively, in the loss.

Halfway through the third overtime, Harris tied it up at 65-65 with a jumper. Nance gave the Cowboys the lead for good on a basket with just over a minute left. Julien Lewis missed from beyond the arc at the other end before Charles Hankerson Jr. sealed it with a triple to account for the final margin.

"That was a hard-fought game for both teams," said Wyoming coach Larry Shyatt. "Every time we got together, after a miss or a make, I reminded them to put pressure on your defense. Put pressure on your defensive rebounds. I'm thrilled we finished on the high end of it."

Much like the second half, neither team could shake one another in the second overtime.

Riley Grabau converted a jumper to give the Cowboys a 61-59 lead, then Guerrero missed a 3-pointer at the other end. Hankerson missed a pair of free throws, though, with 24 seconds left.

Guerrero tied the game with a jumper in the closing seconds, but he committed a foul of Nance with a second remaining. Nance could not hit one from the line, however, and the game went to a third overtime.

Nance hit two free throws in the final minute of the first overtime to push the Cowboys ahead by two, but Harris answered with a layup from Guerrero to tie the game and send it to another session.

Watson's dunk gave the Bulldogs a 33-32 lead at the 15-minute mark of the second half, then Wyoming went on an elongated 6-0 run. Nance capped it with two straight buckets as Fresno State was held scoreless for six minutes.

Watson ended up hitting a 3-pointer that pushed the Bulldogs back in front, 41-40, with just under seven minutes remaining.

The Cowboys were held scoreless for over four minutes until Hankerson nailed a 3-pointer to keep the back-and-forth battle going. Lewis knocked down 1-of-2 from the line to cut the deficit to 43-42.

Guerrero missed a pair of free throws the next time down the floor for the Bulldogs. Nance then split two free throws to make it a two-point game with under a minute left, but his foul led to Alex Davis' free throws that tied it at 44-44.

Nance missed a jumper in the closing seconds and the game went to overtime.

"Wyoming made shots at the end and we didn't," said Fresno State coach Rodney Terry. "We had great open looks. They threw one or two in and we didn't. Any time you lose a game at this level at home it's always difficult to swallow a loss."

Nance's layup at the midway point of the first put Wyoming up 13-12. Guerrero followed with a jumper that kicked off a 9-2 spurt for the Bulldogs.

Fresno State was held to just one field goal over the final seven minutes of the half, however, and the Cowboys ended up with a 26-23 lead at the break.

Game Notes

Wyoming shot 44.6 percent from the floor and held the Bulldogs to 35.7 percent shooting ... Each team shot 57 percent from the free throw line ... Lewis had a team-high 10 rebounds in the loss.