FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Dorian Green is wise beyond his years. The Colorado State freshman proved it again on Saturday night as he was able to put shortcomings behind him in crunch time.
Given the chance to put some distance between the Rams and Montana, Green hit only 1-of-3 free throws. But with the game on the line, he was able to put those misses out of his mind.
Green hit two free throws with 9.6 seconds left and scored 18 points to help Colorado State edge Montana 62-61.
“I had missed a couple, but my biggest focus was just focusing on my routine,” Green said. “I needed to slow down a little bit and concentrate on each shot and forget about the ones I missed and make the next ones.”
Green, who was 5 for 9 from the free-throw line, was fouled on a driving layup.
“We just went to him,” Colorado State coach Tim Miles said. “If you want to end a game, you need a playmaker.”
Montana (6-4) had two chances to win it, but Anthony Johnson’s shot hit the side of the backboard and Derek Selvig missed a tip-in at the buzzer.
“It was just me and trying to attack,” Johnson said of his last shot attempt. “They got a hand on it and unfortunately it came up short.”
Adam Nigon had a career-high 17 points, and Travis Franklin added 11 for the Rams (7-3), winners of five of six.
Johnson led Montana with 19 points, 17 coming in the second half, after shooting 0 for 4 in the first half. Selvig and Jack McGillis had 10 each.
“My team felt I needed to attack more in the second half,” Johnson said. “I am better when I’m attacking, and I made it a point to get to the free throw line and play the game.”
Play was halted seven times for shot-clock and game-clock malfunctions. Time was kept at the scorer’s table for the last 14:43 of the first half. All clocks were functioning at the start of the second half.
Travis Franklin’s three-point play put Colorado State ahead 35-25 early in the second. Montana then began going inside to Selvig, whose third basket of the period got the Grizzlies to within 35-32. Johnson’s first field goal of the game kept it a three-point game, 39-36 with 14:38 remaining.
Moments later Johnson tied it at 43 with his next shot. His layup in traffic put Montana ahead 56-55 with 2:10 left, but Nigon’s layup put the Rams back ahead, 57-56.
Michael Taylor’s 3-pointer with 54 seconds remaining gave the Grizzlies a 59-58 advantage. The lead changed hands again on Green’s layup with 44 seconds left and once more after two free throws by Johnson with 31 seconds left.
The Grizzlies were hurt when Selvig picked up his fourth foul with 4:43 to play, and he had to back off a little on defense the rest of the way.
“He’s our big body and someone we really need,” McGillis said. “He had given us a boost in the second half.”
Nigon had 15 points by halftime and the Rams led 30-23. Nigon tied the game at 10 when the scoreboard clock went out at the 14:45 mark, and he hit his fourth 3 to put Colorado State up 28-19.
“When somebody’s shooting like Adam, you’ve got to feed the hot hand,” Green said. “He was shooting the ball well, so we kept going to him.”
Johnson converted two free throws, and Taylor beat the halftime buzzer with a tip-in basket to get Montana to within seven points of the Rams.
“It was a crazy game, a crazy day,” said Green about the clock problems. “The bottom line is we got a little lucky, and we came out with a win and that’s all that matters.”
