Baylor sees SU take win

SEATTLE – Cervante’ Burrell scored on a baseline reverse with 8.3 seconds left, then came up with a steal on the final Fresno State possession, and Seattle capped a night honoring Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor with a frantic 85-84 win over the Bulldogs on Thursday night.

With Baylor, Seattle’s most famous athletic alum, sitting courtside, the Redhawks rallied from down 81-75 with 1:40 left to hand new coach Cameron Dollar his first victory as a Division I head coach.

Seattle took an 83-82 lead on Garrett Lever’s follow of Aaron Broussard’s miss with 37.6 seconds left, Lever’s only basket of the game. Fresno State’s Greg Smith responded with a layup at the other end with 24 seconds left.

On the Redhawks’ final possession, Chris Gweth drove into the lane and found Burrell cutting baseline to give Seattle the lead. Fresno State had one last chance but Steven Shepp was stripped by Burrell who dribbled up court before throwing the ball up toward the giant scoreboard above midcourt as the buzzer sounded.

Burrell finished with 16 points for the Redhawks, who picked up their first win playing a full Division I schedule this season as part of their transition back to the top level of college hoops. Charles Garcia led Seattle (1-2) with 21 points and 12 rebounds while Broussard added 16 points.

Smith finished with 24 for Fresno State (2-1) and Paul George also scored 24 before fouling out with more than four minutes remaining.

Before the game, the court at KeyArena, the former home of the Seattle SuperSonics and new home of Seattle, was dedicated in Baylor’s honor. Baylor starred at Seattle in the late 1950s helping it reach the 1958 NCAA championship game before falling to Kentucky.

Baylor was part of the pregame video montage saying, “We’re back!” right before the newest version of the Redhawks were introduced. He then spoke briefly before the game as the court was dedicated in his honor.

“The Redhawks, I believe, it’s a good future for them,” Baylor said. “Need a little patience, not too much time, but they will be back to the standards when we played.”

He was later acknowledged at halftime as the top 29 players in school history were honored, all part of the school’s return to full Division I status for the first time since the 1980 season.

The patience Baylor spoke of was put to the full test in the second half as the Redhawks made youthful mistakes before their late rally.

Fresno State rallied from down 57-47 with less than 14 minutes to play to hold a six-point lead with less than two minutes to go. After George carried the Bulldogs for much of the first half, Smith was the catalyst for the second-half rally.