FORT COLLINS — Colorado State took its turn at keeping Air Force on the losing end of Mountain West Conference basketball games.
The Rams (11-5, 2-0 MWC) led wire-to-wire Saturday night at Moby Arena on the way to a 70-48 victory that stretched Air Force’s conference losing streak to 18 games and put CSU atop the MWC standings.
Andy Ogide scored 13 points and Travis Franklin added 11 for the Rams, who clinched it with an 18-5 run in the second half after Air Force had cut the lead to six.
The Falcons (8-7, 0-2), who played listlessly through the first half and into the second half with only one assist, rallied to cut a 26-15 halftime deficit to 34-28 with 13:41 left. A 3-pointer by Todd Fletcher and a jump shot by Taylor Broekhuis powered the Air Force rally. But the Rams took over from there.
“We were aggressive tonight,” CSU coach Tim Mills said. “I thought we played good defense, especially in the first half. As they say, the aggressor always wins.”
The Falcons’ 15 halftime points were their lowest total for a half this season. Their 18 turnovers were the second-most.
Ogide scored eight of his points in the last seven minutes, and his three- point play gave the Rams their biggest lead at 60-37 with 5:52 left.
Air Force’s play had coach Jeff Reynolds stumped.
“I don’t know how to categorize how we played,” Reynolds said. “We had the three best practices this week that we’ve had all year. We couldn’t do anything tonight, and the most disappointing thing for me was our defense.”
CSU’s Franklin knew where to point for the difference.
“The key to beating them was getting the ball in the paint, and that’s what we did,” Franklin said.
The Rams outscored the Falcons 30-14 in the paint.
FG FT Reb
AIR FORCE Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Fow 21 3-7 0-1 0-3 1 3 6
McLain 22 2-5 0-0 1-3 0 3 5
Fletcher 31 2-6 2-2 0-1 0 1 7
Lyons 17 1-3 0-0 0-1 1 1 2
Washington 37 2-6 1-4 1-6 2 3 5
El-Amin 1 1-1 0-1 0-0 0 0 2
Fitzgerald 20 4-6 0-0 0-2 0 2 11
Bohannon 5 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 2 0
Merriex 12 0-0 1-2 0-0 1 2 1
Brooks 13 2-6 0-0 3-3 0 2 5
Broekhuis 21 2-4 0-1 2-4 0 3 4
Totals 200 19-44 4-11 9-26 6 22 48
Percentages: FG .432, FT .364. 3-point goals: 6-15, .400 (Fitzgerald 3-4, Fletcher 1-2, Brooks 1-2, McLain 1-2, Broekhuis 0-1, Fow 0-2, Washington 0-2). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 2 (Broekhuis, Washington). Turnovers: 18 (Washington 4, Fletcher 4, McLain 3, Merriex 2, Brooks, Broekhuis, Lyons, Bohannon, Fow). Steals: 5 (Merriex, Fow, Fletcher, McLain, Brooks). Technical fouls: None.
FG FT Reb
COLORADO ST. Min M-A M-A O-T A PF PTS
Franklin 25 3-5 5-10 0-5 3 3 11
Hornung 28 3-4 0-2 3-6 0 1 6
Ogide 22 4-4 5-7 0-5 3 1 13
Nigon 25 2-8 0-0 0-2 1 2 6
Green 32 2-7 3-3 1-1 2 1 9
Bocar Ba 9 1-1 0-0 1-1 0 2 2
Busch 18 2-3 3-4 0-0 0 1 7
McFarland 7 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 0 0
Annese 6 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 0 0
Perry 2 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 3
Dunn 9 2-4 0-0 0-2 2 0 4
Smith 17 4-6 0-0 2-5 1 3 9
Totals 200 24-46 16-27 10-32 13 15 70
Percentages: FG .522, FT .593. 3-point goals: 6-16, .375 (Green 2-4, Nigon 2-6, Smith 1-1, Perry 1-1, McFarland 0-1, Annese 0-1, Dunn 0-2). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots: 4 (Green 2, Hornung, Nigon). Turnovers: 9 (Nigon 3, Ogide 2, Franklin 2, Green, Busch). Steals: 8 (Hornung 3, Franklin 2, Green, McFarland, Dunn). Technical Fouls: None.
Air Force 15 33 — 48
Colorado State 26 44 — 70
A — 3,207. Officials —Bill Gracey, Rick Batsell, K.C. Ely.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
