Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
San Francisco
Dons edge Rams in final seconds
11/29/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 29, 2008
By Zak Gilbert
Athletic Media Relations
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Kwame Vaughn hit both one-and-one free throws with 3.2 seconds left to help San Francisco escape with a 65-63 win over Colorado State Saturday at historic War Memorial Gym.
The hard-fought loss came on the first road trip for CSU (3-3), who fell inches from its first win in an opponent's arena since Jan. 17, 2007, at TCU. USF improved to 5-1. The Dons' only loss was to Cal (6-0).
Vaughn's free throws came after Andre McFarland missed a contested, 23-foot jumper with the game tied, 63-63, in the final 10 seconds. After the Dons retook the lead, CSU somehow got the ball into the hands of Jesse Carr, who just missed an 8-foot jumper in the lane at the buzzer.
Marcus Walker had a game-high 22 points for CSU, to go along with six rebounds and five assists. Andy Ogide (14) and Andre McFarland (14) also were in double figures for the Rams.
Despite the loss, the Rams don't feel as hand-cuffed as they were in 2007-08.
"It's a better feeling than last year," Head Coach Tim Miles said, "because this year it feels like we can do something with it."
The Rams did something with it in the second half Saturday. Having trailed by as much as 34-26 in the first stanza, CSU came out of the locker room and clawed its way back to take a 43-42 lead with 14:30 left in the game, the Rams' first advantage since leading 16-15 just under nine minutes into the first half.
"It took awhile to adapt," Miles said. "We did some good things, we did some bad things. But I thought we played fairly well over the last 20 minutes."
The Rams jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the game's first 3 minutes, but USF out scored CSU 34-17 over the balance of the first half.
McFarland got into early foul trouble, picking up his third personal foul with just under 8 minutes left in the first half.
Willis Gardner returned to action for the first time since injuring his ankle in a win vs. Northern Colorado Nov. 18. CSU was without Harvey Perry, who aggravated an Achilles' tendon early in New Orleans game Wednesday
The Rams host perennial NCAA tournament team Nevada at home Tuesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Moby Arena.
