Rams get revenge over Cowboys
In a season that has gone nothing close to what was expected, at times, the Colorado State men’s basketball team has shown glimpses of just how good it can be.
Such was the case Friday night at Moby Arena.
Even though the Rams had a 16-point lead in the first half, they had to withstand a second-half rally by Wyoming before pulling away in the final minutes to win their fifth Mountain West Conference game of the season, 84-71.
The Rams improved to 13-16 overall and 5-11 in the MWC with two regular-season games remaining. They avenged their 58-57 loss to the Cowboys in Laramie on Jan. 21.
Six and a half minutes into the game, the teams were tied at 12. The Rams answered with their first big run of the game, a 16- 4 spurt, to go ahead 28-16 with 7:32 left in the first half.
After Wyoming cut the CSU led to nine, the Rams went on a 7- 0 run to take their largest lead of the first half at 35-19 with 4:42 left in the period.
The Cowboys cut the Rams’ lead to eight before a jumper by Isaiah Stevens gave the Rams a 4030 lead just before halftime and CSU took that 10-point lead into the break.
James Moors and John Tonje led the Rams with seven points each in the first half. Stevens and Baylor Hebb each had six as CSU shot 61.5% from the field and made 4- of- 9 3-pointers in the opening period.
In the second half, the Cowboys slowly closed the gap. They cut their deficit to five points on several occasions, the last at 63-58 with 7:29 remaining.
A 3-pointer by Tonje with 4:10 to go gave the Rams a 73- 58 and they matched their largest lead of the first when a layup by Patrick Cartier gave them a 75
59 lead with 3:50 to go.
Wyoming cut the CSU lead to 10 with 1:48 to go and that would be as close
as the Cowboys would get. The Rams led 84-68 with 22 seconds remaining.
Tonje led the Rams with
25 points. Stevens had 15 to go along with 12 assists, tying the single-game record he has achieved twice and shares with Ryan Yoder and Rudy Carey. James Moors added 16 points.
The Rams ended up shooting 59.2% for the game. They were almost perfect from the free throw line, making 19 of 21.
Wyoming only shot 45.1%. Each team had 11 turnovers and CSU outrebounded the Cowboys, 32-19.
CSU will play at San Jose State next Tuesday before closing the regular season at home next Friday against New Mexico.