Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
New Mexico
CSU falls short in double overtime thriller
2/28/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 28, 2009
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By John Manuszak
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – On Saturday night at Moby Arena, Colorado State and New Mexico played one of the most memorable games in Fort Collins in recent memory. The game featured two overtimes, buzzer beaters, near misses, dramatic plays and two seniors fighting until the very end. Unfortunately for the Rams, and seniors Marcus Walker and Willis Gardner, they came up just short.
New Mexico sent the game into overtime with a tip-in as the clock would down and then did just enough to survive a pair of overtimes as the Lobos posted an 81-79 double overtime win in front of 3,023 fans inside Moby Arena.
After sending the game into overtime with a dramatic tip-in off a missed shot, and escaping a Walker three-point attempt at the end of the first overtime, the Lobos dodged one final bullet in the second overtime. In that period, the Lobos scored five unanswered points to take a 78-73 lead. But a Walker three-pointer with 1:22 cut the lead to one (78-77). With 25 seconds left, Dairese Gary drove the lane and connected on a layup to put the Lobos up two. Walker answered again with a pair of free throws with 9 seconds remaining. On New Mexico’s final possession, CSU’s Harvey Perry fouled Chad Toppert, who split the free throws. The Rams took timeout and in the final seconds got a decent look at a layup for Willis Gardner and a tip-in attempt as time expired by Travis Franklin, but both baskets were no good and the Lobos raced out of Moby Arena with the win.
“There’s nothing I’m going to tell them that’s going to make them feel better, but if we’re going to win, these are the types of games that we’re going to win,” said a disappointed CSU Head Coach Tim Miles. “It’s going to be a dogfight right until the end. We’ve got to do the little things and we didn’t tonight.”
Playing in his final game at Moby Arena, Walker tallied a game-high 33 points, marking the second-highest total of his career. He sent the game into a second overtime with a lay-up off a Franklin shot and played 45 of the game’s 50 minutes. Walker had a chance to win the game in overtime but his running three-pointer at the buzzer rattled out.
“It was pretty emotional out there,” said Walker. “Anytime you say goodbye to something that’s been so good to you it’s kind of hard. It hasn’t kicked in yet that this is my last game at Moby, but every good thing comes to an end.”
Harvey Perry was outstanding for the Rams in the overtime periods as he finished with 13 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. Andre McFarland also scored in double figures for the Rams with 11 points while adding five rebounds.
Toppert scored 19 points and hit five three-pointers for the Lobos while Gary added 18 points and eight assists.
The Rams (9-20, 4-11 MWC), who trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half, used a 20-3 run spanning the end of the first half and beginning of the second to take a eight-point lead with 5 minutes to go in regulation. CSU led by five (62-57) with 13 seconds left before Toppert hit a three-pointer with 9 seconds remaining. A CSU turnover gave the ball back to the Lobos who found Toppert open at the top of the key, but his shot was partially deflected and fell right to Daniel Faris who layed the ball up in one motion to tie the game at 62 and send it to overtime.
A Tony Danridge layup with 1 minute remaining in the first overtime gave New Mexico a 69-66 lead but the Rams answered right back when Walker connected on a reverse layup with 38 seconds left in the extra session. After a pair of free throws from Gary, CSU’s Perry hit a free throw to get within two points (71-69) and then Walker tied the game with 11 seconds remaining on a layup to force a second overtime.
Early in the first half, New Mexico used an 11-0 run to take a 21-8 lead with 8:37 left in the opening half. They would extend that lead to 14 on two occasions in the period, including with 1:50 left in the half. CSU gave itself some life with a 7-0 run to close the half and get within 30-23 at intermission.
The Rams will wrap up the regular season on Wednesday when CSU travels to San Diego State (19-8, 9-5 MWC) to take on the Aztecs.
