FORT COLLINS — Apparently, losing three players off the roster in one day — including leading scorer Marcus Walker — wasn’t too much adversity for suddenly surging Colorado State.
Coach Tim Miles was still able to clear the bench with three fresh players and 19 seconds left in the Rams’ 67-56 victory over Air Force on Tuesday night.
CSU came in with 20 losses in its last 21 regular-season league games. The Rams, led by freshman guard Jesse Carr’s 17 points, left Moby Arena with two wins in their last three games after beating Air Force. While keeping the Falcons (9-9, 0-5 Mountain West Conference) winless in league play, CSU (7-12, 2-3) already has matched last season’s overall win count.
“When we first learned about it, we thought it would be a really big blow,” Carr said of losing the three players. “But a lot of guys were willing to step up.”
Walker, the Rams’ leading scorer despite coming off the bench, and Harvey Perry, a 6-foot-5 junior college transfer, are out pending the completion of academic requirements.
Josh Simmons, a sophomore guard who had played sparingly, was booted off the team for undisclosed reasons.
CSU’s spring semester started Tuesday. Typically academic shortfalls are revealed when the second semester begins. At the same time, the federal education privacy act limits specifics where academics are concerned.
“If they don’t get the work done, they are done,” said Miles, who wouldn’t put a deadline on the academic issue.
In addition to those three, former starting center Dan Vandervieren continued to sit in street clothes, unable to play for the Rams because of a back injury. CSU has just eight healthy scholarship players.
CSU hadn’t defeated Air Force in a regular-season game since Jan. 18, 2003. Falcons forward Matt Holland was intent on keep the streak going, delivering a career-high 25 points. While the Falcons had some success behind the 3-point arc on Holland’s 7-for-11 outing, they were only 9-for-22 at the free-throw line.
Miles had known for some time that Walker and Perry were potential academic casualties, making Walker come off the bench since the last week in December.
Then Miles walked in the locker room only to find starting guard Willis Gardner (stomach) with a towel over his head.
“He lost breakfast, lunch and pregame (meal),” Miles said. “He has a heart as big as this gym.”
Gardner played 34 minutes, scrapped for one loose ball in the second half, scored 11 points and dished out six assists.
“Our coaches knew they were missing a couple of players, but they didn’t want us to know,” Holland said.
CSU was penalized two scholarships for not meeting NCAA academic pro-gress standards after the 2007 season. The program could face more sanctions, but senior associate athletic director for compliance Christine Susemihl said official numbers won’t be available for some time: “That would be like predicting the conference champ before the season.”
AIR FORCE (9-9, 0-5 MWC)
Holland 7-11 4-6 25, Johnson 2-4 0-2 4, Parker 1-3 0-0 3, Henke 3-8 2-4 9, Washington 5-14 2-4 12, El-Amin 0-0 0-0 0, Noonan 0-1 0-0 0, Stewart 0-0 0-0 0, Merriex 0-1 0-0 0, Hempsey 1-2 0-1 2, McLain 0-0 0-0 0, Schafer 0-1 1-5 1. Totals 19-45 9-22 56.
COLORADO STATE (7-12, 2-3)
McFarland 3-4 0-0 7, Ogide 0-3 4-6 4, Carr 6-10 0-0 17, Nigon 0-3 4-4 4, Gardner 4-8 2-2 11, Franklin 4-5 4-5 12, Clayman 0-0 0-0 0, Annese 0-0 0-0 0, Lebsack 0-0 0-0 0, Dunn 3-4 2-3 10, Bocar Ba 0-2 2-3 2. Totals 20-39 18-23 67.
Halftime — Air Force 31-29. 3-point goals — Air Force 9-23 (Holland 7-11, Parker 1-1, Henke 1-5, Schafer 0-1, Merriex 0-1, Noonan 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Washington 0-2); Colorado State 9-18 (Carr 5-8, Dunn 2-3, McFarland 1-2, Gardner 1-4, Nigon 0-1). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — Air Force 24 (Henke 5, Holland 5); Colorado State 30 (Franklin 7). Assists — Air Force 9 (Schafer 5), Colorado State 14 (Gardner 6). Total fouls — Air Force 23, Colorado State 22. A — 3,266.
Natalie Meisler: 303-954-1295 or nmeisler@denverpost.com
