Colorado State University Athletics
Tuesday, January 16
Fort Collins, CO
7:00 PM
Colorado State
14-3,2-2Mountain West
78
vs
69
Air Force
7-9,0-4Mountain West
1
2
OT 1
F
Air Force
27
37
5
69
Colorado St.
24
40
14
78
Rams Survive Huge Potential Upset at Home Against Air Force
1/16/2024 10:35:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Late steal and layup force overtime, CSU dominates extra period
FORT COLLINS – There were plenty of chances to tie or go ahead late in Tuesday's game between Colorado State and Air Force. Many of them ended in silly Rams mistakes, but just one was needed to tie it up just before the end of regulation.
A good defensive stand from CSU after free throws with 16 seconds to go, nearly forcing a 10-second violation out of the Falcons. Air Force's Ethan Taylor threw an errant pass to avoid the violation, which Isaiah Stevens stole and passed ahead to Nique Clifford for an easy game-tying layup.
Two good looks at a game-winner were no good for the Falcons. From that point, the Rams never really looked back on the way to a 78-69 win in overtime in front of 6,345 fans at Moby Arena.
Josiah Strong hit a quick three to start OT, then a mid-range shot to further push the lead. From his five points came a huge sigh of relief from head coach Niko Medved, saying he felt Strong's (and the team's as a whole) "mojo coming back" on the way to grinding out a win.
At points in the first half, it looked like Air Force had shown up in a much more apparent way than CSU. With 4:11 remaining in the frame, Air Force had its biggest lead of the game at 27-15. The Rams showed resilience from that point, closing the half on a 9-0 run capped by a vicious slam by Joe Palmer.
For the most part, the Rams struggled to get good opportunities inside, an effort made difficult by the Falcons' matchup zone, according to Medved. As a result, Patrick Cartier and Joel Scott were limited for much of the disappointing half.
Scott was able to force the issue more in the second half, getting to the free throw line often to help keep the score tight.
"Coach Medved told us the first little bit it's gonna be a struggle to kind of get in the flow and that's what they do," Scott said. "They might guard the same action four different ways. So it's kind of hard to get in that flow, but yeah, once we kind of figured it out, we started getting into the flow and we could get in the paint and get to the free throw line more."
That change was one of a few between the first and second half. Stevens and Clifford both had a relatively quiet first period, but at least doubled their scoring and rebounding numbers from half one to half two. Stevens finished with 12 points and nine assists, Clifford a team-leading 17 points and six rebounds.
It turned out to be somewhat fitting the two would combine for an overtime-forcing basket as time wound down.
"We held them scoreless for a long time, like the last six minutes of the first half and so we were able to dig in defensively and make a few buckets but those guys have been through the wars before," Medved said. "The one thing about Nique, man, it can be a strength and a weakness but one of his strengths is he never really gets too up or too down. He makes a mistake and he doesn't let them stop him from going to make the next play."
Medved's star of the game, however, was Palmer.
2-of-2 from 3 early off the bench. A huge dunk to end the first half. Numerous hustle plays to earn the ball back, including a block that sent the ball ringing off the backboard and flying the other way.
"It's hard to win, and you've just got to find a way to grind out wins and somehow we did," Medved said. "I'll tell you what: I thought Joe Palmer changed the game for us tonight. We really had nothing going and he just brought a ton of energy — offensive rebounds, knocked down shots and had a huge block. I thought that run we made at the end of the first half was just massive for us."
As time was inching closer to the end of regulation, the Falcons clung onto a less-than-five-point lead for the final 8:30, aside from the 41 seconds which CSU led by one point during that stretch.
Ticking below 2:30, Air Force's lead was two. Then four. Then two again. Back and forth with plenty of chances for the Rams to break that sort of stalemate. Silly mistakes like errant passes, failing to catch a pass and missing open shots prevented the Rams from stealing it in regulation.
If it weren't for the team's ability to stay focused and keep its head up after making those mistakes, perhaps the Rams would have been upset after all.
"I feel like that's something we've emphasized recently is just continuing playing even when things don't go your way," Clifford said. "We missed some easy ones we usually make, but you know, we just kept fighting. That's what I think makes our team so special is that we were able to just keep playing even through some adversity. I feel like we've done that all year, so if we continue to do that, we're going to be successful."
CSU will continue its home stand Friday, hosting UNLV at Moby at 8:30 p.m. for the annual Orange Out.
A good defensive stand from CSU after free throws with 16 seconds to go, nearly forcing a 10-second violation out of the Falcons. Air Force's Ethan Taylor threw an errant pass to avoid the violation, which Isaiah Stevens stole and passed ahead to Nique Clifford for an easy game-tying layup.
Two good looks at a game-winner were no good for the Falcons. From that point, the Rams never really looked back on the way to a 78-69 win in overtime in front of 6,345 fans at Moby Arena.
Josiah Strong hit a quick three to start OT, then a mid-range shot to further push the lead. From his five points came a huge sigh of relief from head coach Niko Medved, saying he felt Strong's (and the team's as a whole) "mojo coming back" on the way to grinding out a win.
At points in the first half, it looked like Air Force had shown up in a much more apparent way than CSU. With 4:11 remaining in the frame, Air Force had its biggest lead of the game at 27-15. The Rams showed resilience from that point, closing the half on a 9-0 run capped by a vicious slam by Joe Palmer.
For the most part, the Rams struggled to get good opportunities inside, an effort made difficult by the Falcons' matchup zone, according to Medved. As a result, Patrick Cartier and Joel Scott were limited for much of the disappointing half.
Scott was able to force the issue more in the second half, getting to the free throw line often to help keep the score tight.
"Coach Medved told us the first little bit it's gonna be a struggle to kind of get in the flow and that's what they do," Scott said. "They might guard the same action four different ways. So it's kind of hard to get in that flow, but yeah, once we kind of figured it out, we started getting into the flow and we could get in the paint and get to the free throw line more."
That change was one of a few between the first and second half. Stevens and Clifford both had a relatively quiet first period, but at least doubled their scoring and rebounding numbers from half one to half two. Stevens finished with 12 points and nine assists, Clifford a team-leading 17 points and six rebounds.
It turned out to be somewhat fitting the two would combine for an overtime-forcing basket as time wound down.
"We held them scoreless for a long time, like the last six minutes of the first half and so we were able to dig in defensively and make a few buckets but those guys have been through the wars before," Medved said. "The one thing about Nique, man, it can be a strength and a weakness but one of his strengths is he never really gets too up or too down. He makes a mistake and he doesn't let them stop him from going to make the next play."
Medved's star of the game, however, was Palmer.
2-of-2 from 3 early off the bench. A huge dunk to end the first half. Numerous hustle plays to earn the ball back, including a block that sent the ball ringing off the backboard and flying the other way.
"It's hard to win, and you've just got to find a way to grind out wins and somehow we did," Medved said. "I'll tell you what: I thought Joe Palmer changed the game for us tonight. We really had nothing going and he just brought a ton of energy — offensive rebounds, knocked down shots and had a huge block. I thought that run we made at the end of the first half was just massive for us."
As time was inching closer to the end of regulation, the Falcons clung onto a less-than-five-point lead for the final 8:30, aside from the 41 seconds which CSU led by one point during that stretch.
Ticking below 2:30, Air Force's lead was two. Then four. Then two again. Back and forth with plenty of chances for the Rams to break that sort of stalemate. Silly mistakes like errant passes, failing to catch a pass and missing open shots prevented the Rams from stealing it in regulation.
If it weren't for the team's ability to stay focused and keep its head up after making those mistakes, perhaps the Rams would have been upset after all.
"I feel like that's something we've emphasized recently is just continuing playing even when things don't go your way," Clifford said. "We missed some easy ones we usually make, but you know, we just kept fighting. That's what I think makes our team so special is that we were able to just keep playing even through some adversity. I feel like we've done that all year, so if we continue to do that, we're going to be successful."
CSU will continue its home stand Friday, hosting UNLV at Moby at 8:30 p.m. for the annual Orange Out.
Team Stats
USAFA
CSU
FG%
.411
.439
3FG%
.455
.417
FT%
.765
.783
RB
37
34
TO
16
9
STL
6
7
Game Leaders
Pts
17
FGM
7
3FGM
1
FTM
2
Pts
13
FGM
2
3FGM
1
FTM
8
Pts
12
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
3
Pts
11
FGM
4
3FGM
3
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
F
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