This one should have been a 'Big Monday' game

It's too bad the WAC doesn't have an ESPN contract to provide a game every Monday night because -- despite what would have been it's very late appearance back east -- Boise State and Fresno State tangled in a very good one last night.

BSU men win OT thriller against Fresno State
NICK JEZIERNY
Idaho Statesman
1/29/08

FRESNO, Calif. — Instead of a sickening feeling of deja vu, the Boise State men’s basketball team finally left the Save Mart Center feeling good.
The Broncos somehow willed their way to a 90-89 overtime win over Fresno State in a game they appeared to have won in regulation and looked destined to lose in overtime before staging a furious comeback to leave a crowd of 10,399 stunned.

Reggie Larry, who scored a career-high 27 points and pulled down 16 rebounds, scored off a designed inbounds play with 6 seconds left to help BSU overcome a pair of four-point deficits in the extra session. And then the Broncos had to wait for Fresno State point guard Kevin Bell, who hit a game-winning shot last year as time expired against the Broncos, to miss a shot in the lane.

Bell’s shot hung on the rim and finally rolled off. BSU forward Matt Nelson swatted the ball toward half court as time expired.

“I thought about last year,” said Bell, who scored 26 points and had eight assists. “It was karma coming back at me. I tried to get to the rim as quick as I could. It felt good...”

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Or if you prefer the Fresno point of view:

Fresno State heartbreaker'Dogs surge to force extra time, only to see last shot miss at final horn
Gary Estwick
The Fresno Bee
1/28/08

Kevin Bell ended Monday night with a slow, frail walk to the locker room as he stared up into the Save Mart Center lights, his eyes not focused on any one object.
Bell had just sprinted nearly the length of the court, on his way to what seemed to be his second game-winning shot at home against Boise State in as many seasons.

This time, though, his layup bounced, and bounced on the right side of the rim. Then it dropped to the floor, ending a Western Athletic Conference thriller with a 90-89 overtime loss to Boise State.

"At first, I couldn't believe it. It took me a second just to get it together and just realize I missed," Bell said later, still visualizing the moment.

And with his miss, a floater in the lane -- a shot he has made many other times this season, including Monday -- Fresno State lost its chance to regain a grip on the WAC regular-season race, falling back under .500 at 10-11 overall and 3-4 in conference...

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