Fresno St. 59, Boise St. 52

BOISE, Idaho (AP) Renaldo Major scored 18 points and Hiram Fuller and Jonathan Woods added 12 each as Fresno State defeated Boise State 59-52 Saturday.

Fuller's 3-point play with 8:09 gave the Bulldogs (17-4 overall and 10-2 in the WAC) a 37-36 lead. Fresno State had to hold off repeated challenges by the Broncos (10-11, 4-7) in the final minutes.

Boise State's Bryan Defares hit a 3-point field goal to cut Fresno State's lead to 51-48 with a minute to play, but the Bulldogs sank eight free throws in the final 46 seconds to seal the win.

Jason Ellis led the Broncos with 14 points while Defares added 13 and Booker Nabors contributed 11.

Fresno State scored just 2 points during a 10-minute span in the first half as Boise State fought back from a 6-point deficit to lead during much of the opening period. But a 3-point shot at the buzzer by Woods gave the Bulldogs a 23-22 lead at halftime.

Poor free throw shooting continued to plague Boise State as the Broncos hit just 14 of 22 attempts. They didn't fare much better from the floor, hitting just 32 percent of their field goal attempts.

Fresno State hit only 38 percent of its field goal attempts, but the Bulldogs dominated on the boards, pulling down 46 rebounds to the Broncos' 27.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)