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AP Sports Writer
Cervante' Burrell was never the first option and wasn't again in the final seconds on Thursday night.
He just made the right cut at the right time, bringing Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor out of his seat.
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 Baylor with a frantic 85-84 win over the Bulldogs.
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. Burrell capped the rally by sneaking behind his defender, collecting a pass from Chris Gweth and scoring 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.
"I've never had a game-winning basket," Burrell said. "I was never the go-to guy."
But he was the guy hitting the big shot for Seattle (1-2) to put an appropriate cap on an evening honoring Baylor as Seattle continues its transition back to playing a full Division I schedule for the first time since 1980.
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 was 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."
That patience Baylor spoke of was put to the test in the Redhawks' home opener as Fresno State woke up from a first-half lull and surged into the lead with an 18-4 run midway through the second half. The Bulldogs still led by six with 1:40 left before the Redhawks' stunning rally.
"Every experience we have this year is going to be a first," Dollar said. "Our guys don't even know each other. It's their third game together ... and I'm learning them every game out, different situations, rotations, so there is a newness to it that's going to take time to adjust."
After Burrell made just one of two free throws - the Redhawks were 4 of 10 at the line in the final minutes - Mike Boxley followed with a 3-pointer to get Seattle within 81-79. Sylvester Seay split a pair of free throws to give Fresno State a three-point lead, but Burrell scored on an open drive then helped force a key turnover.
Shepp tried dribbling out of trouble and slipped. Aaron Broussard picked up the loose ball and raced into the front court. Broussard missed, but Garrett Lever scored his only basket on the follow and gave Seattle an 83-82 lead.
Greg Smith answered for the Bulldogs with 24 seconds left, yet Seattle got a final chance. Gweth drove into the lane, spun and found Burrell cutting along the baseline.
"I knew Chris' go-to move and he had two men coming, and I knew he was going to go to the spin move," Burrell said. "I just back cut and Chris made a good pass."
Charles Garcia led Seattle with 21 points and 12 rebounds, carrying Seattle's offense for most of the night before his supporting cast woke up in the final eight minutes. Broussard added 16 and Burrell finished with 16.
Smith scored 24 points for the Bulldogs (2-1), with 22 of those coming in the second half. Paul George also scored 24 before fouling out with more than four minutes remaining.
But coach Steve Cleveland was left lamenting his lackluster guard play, 20 turnovers and a slow start that found the Bulldogs behind 39-31 at the half. Shepp had 13 points off the bench, but had eight turnovers. George had six turnovers.
"We played with much more intelligence, got the ball where we needed it," Cleveland said about the second half. "The first 20 minutes, I don't know, but we were in an absolute funk. We didn't have energy."
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