FORT COLLINS — Colorado State men’s basketball entered its penultimate home game of the season against Fresno State on Tuesday riding a five-game winning streak as one of the hottest teams in the Mountain West Conference.
It took a late second-half rally, but the Rams kept their streak alive, winning their sixth straight game, 74-70, over the visiting Bulldogs at Moby Arena. CSU also avenged a 79-69 loss at Fresno State on Jan. 13.
CSU improved to 18-10 overall and 9-8 in the Mountain West, moving above .500 in league play for the first time this season.
However, the win was far from easy as the Rams were down by double digits in both halves before finding a groove late in the game.
Following an emotional victory Saturday in the team’s annual Orange Out game, CSU head coach Ali Farokhmanesh had a feeling the team could succumb to a letdown, or at least a slow start against the Bulldogs.
“I felt at practice yesterday like there was probably going to be a little let-up, and we were fighting them on it,” he said. “We were trying to get them juiced up to go for the game, but there was definitely a let-up, and that’s human nature.
“So, for us to find a win this game, it didn’t need to be pretty. We just needed to find a way, and I thought our guys found a way to win. They executed well in the second half and started attacking the basket better.”
CSU trailed 39-32 to start the second half and after a few minutes used a 7-0 run to tie the game at 47-47 on 3-pointer by Brandon Rechsteiner with 15:34 left.
The game was tied again at 49 before Fresno State went on an 8-0 run to go ahead 57-49 with 12:11 remaining.
Fresno State extended that run to 12-2 to go ahead 61-51 before back-to-back 3-pointers by Rechsteiner cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 61-57 with 9:30 left. Neither team scored for the next two minutes until a pair of free throws by Jevin Muniz got CSU within two at 61-59.
Colorado State’s JoJo McIver looks for an open teammate during the Rams’ game against Fresno State on Tuesday at Moby Arena in Fort Collins. (Nathan Wright/Loveland Reporter-Herald)
CSU then tied the game again at 64 after Carey Booth made a pair of free throws with 4:30 remaining and a minute later, Jase Butler gave the Rams a 65-64 lead with a free throw of his own. On CSU’s next possession, Kyle Jorgensen made it 68-64 with a 3-pointer.
A 3-pointer by Rechsteiner with 2:07 remaining put the Rams up 71-66, and Booth sealed it with a layup with 34 seconds remaining that pushed CSU’s advantage to 73-68.
Fresno did cut the CSU lead to 73-70 with less than 10 seconds remaining, but Jorgensen made a free throw to give the Rams a 74-70 lead with four seconds left.
“We call these kind of trap games,” Jorgensen said. “You know, Orange Out on Saturday, probably our best game of the year, besides CU. But you’ve got to move on. It is what it is. I think we started a little bit casual today and Ali got onto us and we were able to turn around. A month ago, I don’t think we’re winning that game.”
All five CSU starters scored in double figures. Rechsteiner led the way with 16. Muniz had 15 and Jorgensen, Butler and Booth each had 11.
After three lead changes in the first five minutes, Fresno State broke an 8-8 tie with a 3-pointer with 14:06 remaining in the first half and never trailed again until late in the second half.
The Bulldogs used a 9-0 run at one point to go ahead 22-12 with 9:25 remaining before halftime. With 2:56 left in the first half, they took their largest lead of the opening period at 37-24.
CSU made a run in the closing minutes of the half. The Rams scored eight straight points to cut the Bulldogs’ lead to 37-32 before Fresno made a basket with three seconds left to take a 39-32 lead into the break.
CSU then outscored the Bulldogs 42-31 in the second half to secure their sixth win in a row.
The Rams will be back in action Saturday at Fresno State. Their final home game will be March 7 against Boise State.
Colorado State’s Brandon Rechsteiner pulls up to take a shot against Fresno State on Tuesday at Moby Arena in Fort Collins. (Nathan Wright/Loveland Reporter-Herald)