The Associated Press and The News staff report
FRESNO, Calif. — Marvelle Harris and Torren Jones each scored 19 points and Fresno State held off Lamar late, 80-72 to win their second straight game to start the season.
The win was the first in a four-game series in the 2015 Roundball Showcase, otherwise known as the BD Global Event. Fresno State plays host to San Francisco Thursday and travels to play Rice on Saturday.
Harris, the preseason Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, scored 23 points in the Bulldogs’ season-opening win over Pepperdine, and Jones posted his second double-double to open the season, posting 13 points and 14 rebounds against the Waves and grabbing a dozen boards against the Cardinals.
Kevin Booze scored 20 points to lead Lamar, which now has lost both of its meetings with Fresno State, 33 seasons apart. Nick Garth knocked down 3 of 11 from beyond the arc to finish with 13 points.
Lamar (1-1), which opened its season with a dominating win over Austin College of Sherman, had to overcome the size of Fresno State, but the Bulldogs controlled the glass and outrebounded the Cardinals 51-39.
Four Lamar players each had four fouls with about 8 minutes remaining in the game. Booze was the only one to foul out.
Fresno State took a 46-36 halftime lead after going on an 18-7 run in the final 5:41 of the half. The size hurt the Cardinals as they were outscored 20-10 inside the paint, and Fresno State also held a 10-2 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Bulldogs’ lead was as much as 54-38 with 16:43 remaining, but a Garth basket with 7:12 to go whittled that down to 68-62. The Bulldogs went back up by as many as 11 points and never looked back.
In total, Fresno State won the war in the paint, 36-26, but Lamar’s bench had a 27-18 edge.
Port Arthur freshman Dorian Chatman had six points but pulled down nine rebounds in the loss. Lincoln Davis added nine points for Lamar.
Next for the Cardinals is a meeting with Delaware State at 11 a.m. Central on Saturday in Dover.