RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico – Behind a combined 41 points from Isaiah Hill and Donavan Yap Jr., Fresno State advanced to the 2023 Cancun Challenge championship game, defeating New Mexico State 81-76 in overtime on Tuesday evening at the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya.
Hill scored 11 of his game-high 21 points in the final three minutes of regulation to force an extra five minutes. Yap Jr. scored eight of the Bulldogs' 12 points in overtime.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Fresno State went down 8-0 early, allowing back-to-back 3-pointers to open the game. Isaiah Hill got the 'Dogs on the board with a triple from the right wing.
From that point on, the Bulldogs trailed by 2-6 points for the next 10 minutes until Hill's second 3 ignited a 7-0 run. A stop was followed by Enoch Boakye ripping down a rebound on the offensive end, cleaning it up with a thunderous dunk. Fresno State took its first lead of the half at 23-21 with 5:09 on the clock on a driving lineup from Isaiah Pope in transition.
New Mexico State countered back with nine unanswered before Donavan Yap Jr. dropped in a corner 3. A steal by Eduardo Andre and the big man's effort was rewarded with an alley-oop on the break.
Right when the 'Dogs were given their largest deficit of the night at 39-30 with 17:05 on the clock, Xavier DuSell responded with back-to-back 3-pointers from the right wing.
Jalen Weaver tied the game at 47-all with a 3 right with 11:57 remaining. As they had done throughout the night, the Aggies countered through a 9-1 stretch to re-open their advantage. Yap Jr. then cut the deficit back to five at 56-51.
NMSU extended its lead back up to nine, but the Bulldogs came right back with seven unanswered to cut their deficit back to two. That was followed by a foul on a 3-pointer with 3:09 to play which helped the Aggies extend their lead back to five.
With less than three minutes remaining, Hill took over, refusing to let the Bulldogs lose. The senior produced the team's final 11 points of regulation. The final three came with 21.4 seconds, dropping in a game-tying 3-pointer from the top of the key that helped send the game to overtime.
His teammates came through in overtime, with Yap Jr. scoring eight of the Bulldogs' 12 points, including going 6-of-6 from the charity stripe.
NOTES
Fresno State scored 41 points in the second half, the fourth straight game the Bulldogs have scored more than 40 points in the second half.
Fresno State shot above 40 percent from 3 for the third consecutive game (44.4%).
Fresno State made a season-high 12 3-pointers.
Fresno State outrebounded its third straight opponent (35-31).
Fresno State led for just 5:01 with nearly all of that coming in overtime.
Isaiah Hill scored a game-high 21 points, the eighth 20-point game of his career.
Scoring in double figures in each game this year, Hill's point total has increased each contest.
The point guard also had five assists and two steals.
After not recording a 20-point game in the first 66 games of his career, Donavan Yap Jr. reached the 20-point mark in back-to-back games after scoring 20 on Tuesday.
Yap Jr. was 5-10 from the field, 2-of-4 from 3, and 8-of-8 from the foul line.
The senior also had a season-high four assists.
Xavier DuSell reached double figures scoring for the fourth straight game, posting 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from 3.
Leo Colimerio recorded season highs of eight points and eight rebounds.
UP NEXT
Fresno State will face No. 22 James Madison (4-0) in the championship game of the 2023 Cancun Challenge on Wednesday night. Tipoff on CBS Sports Network is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. PT.