Fitz’s Intermission Riff Wakes Up Bulldogs Gonzaga Has Big Second Half To Thump Central Washington

Halftimes are important little interludes.

They’re time to rest, to take care of some personal needs, and to receive directions from coaches.

Gonzaga men’s basketball coach Dan Fitzgerald, for instance, gave his Bulldogs important directions at intermission of their 86-66 win over Central Washington Thursday night.

“I gave them directions to the bus station,” Fitzgerald said.

Seeing as how his NCAA Division I team was trailing the NAIA Wildcats by a 41-40 count at the time, Fitzgerald gave the Bulldogs the option of finding inspiration or finding bus fare.

They chose the former, outscoring CWU 46-25 in the second half for the come-from-behind win - which most of the 2,656 on hand would agree was infinitely preferable to a stay-behind defeat.

“We came out unprepared, thinking that if we just showed up we’d win,” GU center Scott Snider said. “Fitz gave us a good motivational talk at halftime, though.”

Fitzgerald said he was fearful of a letdown after the Bulldogs played so well in an overtime loss to Washington State last week. And he saw those concerns materialize in the first 20 minutes Thursday night.

But after GU’s strong second half as all five starters pushed their scoring totals into double figures - Fitzgerald was less inclined to suggest mass transit options for his players.

“In a lot of ways, I’m pleased,” Fitzgerald said. “We had some problems and we addressed ourselves to them and came back out and had a good effort.”

Part of the GU problem from the start was the absence of senior forward Jon Kinloch, who sat out the game with a sprained ankle. Kinloch, the Bulldogs’ best perimeter shooter, would have been an important weapon against the Wildcats zone.

Central made it clear from tipoff that this was going to be nothing like the 93-53 defeat last year at the Martin Centre.

The Wildcats stayed close and took their first lead, 37-34, with 5:25 left in the first half. They did it with 7-for-11 3-point shooting and clever play under the basket by John Greer.

Greer finished with a game-high 23 points before fouling out with 7:29 left in the game after a double foul led to a technical on him.

“He used me a couple times,” Snider said. “I thought I’d get an easier assignment after having to face (WSU’s Mark) Hendrickson last time, but (Greer) is one of the best NAIA players I’ve ever seen.”

Greer played at Northern Arizona last year, but chose to transfer after teammate and close friend Brad Snyder died in a car accident.

“I wouldn’t say we were surprised,” Greer said of the CWU halftime lead. “I think we caught them sleeping a little bit and we hit some big shots.” “Basically, our kids played really hard and our shots fell,” Sparling said. “When you’re 7-for-11 in 3-pointers, you’re going to be in a lot of games. If we’d have cut down on some of the small mistakes, we might have been in it a lot longer.”

Snider made three quick baskets, and Kyle Dixon and Kevin Williams each netted 3-pointers to push GU out to a second-half lead.

Williams led the Bulldogs with 18 points, one more than center Paul Rogers. Dixon, meanwhile, had 12 points, seven assists and four steals.

“This was a hard game for us to play, and I think the kids know they were really in a battle, so the good thing is that they played a good second half,” Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald always sees early season games as chances for his team to develop character, to find its own personality.

“No, I’m not overly happy, but they took a pretty good chewing and came back,” Fitzgerald said. “You need to see how a team responds to teaching and sometimes teaching is criticizing; we criticized, but they deserved it and came back and played hard.”

Gonzaga 86, C. Washington 66

CENTRAL WASHINGTON (3-2)

Steigman 2-5 0-0 6, James 3-7 0-0 7, Greer 9-14 2-4 23, Fallon 2-5 0-0 6, Foster 1-4 0-0 2, Blankenship 3-4 0-0 6, Nasinec 2-5 1-3 5, Carson 4-8 0-0 8, Deutsch 1-3 0-0 3. Totals 27-55 3-7 66.

GONZAGA (1-1)

Dixon 4-10 3-4 12, Williams 6-13 3-3 18, Snider 6-6 0-1 12, Rogers 6-10 5-6 17, Leasure 3-6 4-4 11, Rollins 3-9 2-3 8, Ball 1-1 1-2 3, Kincaid 0-0 0-0 0, Hendrix 1-3 0-1 2, Bond 0-1 0-0 0, Nemeth 0-0 3-4 3. Totals 30-59 21-28 86.

Halftime-C. Washington 41, Gonzaga 40. 3-Point goals-C. Washington 9-19 (Steigman 2-4, James 1-3, Greer 3-3, Fallon 2-4, Foster 0-1, Carson 0-1, Deutsch 1-3), Gonzaga 5-16 (Dixon 1-2, Williams 3-7, Leasure 1-1, Rollins 0-5, Hendrix 0-1). Fouled out-C. Washington, Greer. Rebounds-C. Washington 25 (Greer 8), Gonzaga 39 (Leasure 7). Assists-C. Washington 10 (Steigman 5), Gonzaga 13 (Dixon 7). Total fouls-C. Washington 22, Gonzaga 13. Technicals-C. Washington, Greer. A-2,656.

, DataTimes