FORT COLLINS, Colo.—Losing to Fresno State left a bad taste in the mouths of the Colorado State team. And the Rams wanted to get it out of their system quickly.
“Losses always tend to idle in your mind,” forward Pierce Hornung said. “And you want to take it out on your next opponent.”
Colorado State did just that.
Travis Franklin scored 17 points and Pierce Hornung added a career-high 15 points as Colorado State snapped a two-game losing streak with a 93-71 victory over Yale on Thursday.
Hornung, a freshman whose previous best was seven, helped contribute to two 13-0 runs, once to start the game and again early in the second half when the Rams’ lead reached 20. He also had six rebounds and two assists.
“I was looking to score more and be more aggressive on my cuts,” Hornung said. “I found myself open and my teammates got me the ball.
Four players reached double figures for Colorado State (9-5). Adam Nigon had 12 and Andy Ogide 10 for the Rams, who avoided their first three-game losing streak of the season.
“Pierce was aggressive,” Colorado State coach Tim Miles said. “And when he is, he can score.”
The 93 points was a season high for Colorado State in its tuneup for Mountain West Conference play. The Rams open at Wyoming on Jan. 6.
We had a better rhythm on offense than we did against Fresno State,” Miles said. “Our job is to show progress and I think we are.”
Alex Zampier led Yale (4-9) with 25 points. Zampier, four points off his career high, was almost all of the Bulldogs’ offense. No one else scored more than eight in the team’s third straight loss.
“We laid an egg today,” Yale coach James Jones said.
That wasn’t the case for Zampier, who made five straight shots after missing his first two.
“My shot was feeling good tonight,” Zampier said. “I got a lot of shots off screens and in transition and made the most of my opportunities.”
The Rams weren’t particularly satisfied with their defensive effort on Zampier, who was 11-of-22 shooting including five 3-pointers.
“We definitely wanted to take him out of the game,” Hornung said. “We don’t want to see that happen the next time we see a shooter like him.”
Zampier closed the gap to 42-30 with six points to start the second half, but Hornung made two layups in a 7-0 run that put Colorado State up 49-30. The Bulldogs managed only two free throws from Zampier and a 3-pointer by Porter Braswell over the next two minutes, and Travis Busch’s tip in extended Colorado State’s lead to 57-35 with 15:19 remaining.
Franklin’s two free throws gave the Rams their biggest lead, 64-39. Yale got as close as 74-56, but Colorado State scored the next six points including a 3-pointer by Andre McFarland.
Colorado State made 17 of 28 shots to lead 42-24 at the break despite Zampier’s 15 points. The Rams scored 13 unanswered points to start the game and led by as much as 31-12 after a layup and free throw by Travis Franklin with 8:19 left in the first half.
“We missed some chippies to start, but we didn’t have the defensive intensity that’s needed to win a basketball game,” Jones said. “And they could do anything that they wanted.’
