AIR FORCE ACADEMY —It might have been a little nervy, but coach Tim Miles wasn’t thinking about anything but one for the road Saturday when he brought the Colorado State Rams into Clune Arena.
And after a see-saw battle in the second half with the Air Force Falcons, the Rams (19-10, 8-6 MW) departed for the trip north on I-25 with the warm feeling of a 75-65 triumph that was their first victory on the road in seven tries in the Mountain West race. It was the regular-season finale and becoming road warriors was just in time for making a possible statement going into this week’s conference tournament and possibly beyond into postseason play.
The Falcons (13-15, 3-11) had their upset sights set, bolstered by the pregame announcement that Dave Pilipovich had been named head coach on a permanent basis. They took a 56-55 lead on Todd Fletcher’s jumper with 10:03 left, but scored only nine points the rest of the way.
While the Air Force offense sputtered, guard Wes Eikmeier got hot and the Rams avoided a dead end street on the road. After Dorian Green’s two free throws put CSU ahead 57-56 with 8:55 left, Eikmeier hit 10 of CSU’s next 16 points. The barrage included four free throws with 8:12 left on a one-and-one and a technical foul on Air Force’s Max Yon.
“I wasn’t thinking about any alternative to winning this game,” Miles said. “I hope that getting our first conference win on the road will give our players confidence going into Las Vegas for the tournament. We have to focus on the tournament and the other things will take care of themselves.”
Eikmeier agreed that his four free throws came at a critical time in the game. They put the Rams ahead 61-56 and in control.
“Those four points changed the momentum,” Eikmeier said. “Any time you can change the momentum in your favor it’s an important part of the game.”
After the Rams hit their first five shots from the floor and led 15-8, the Falcons were on a hill climb throughout the first half. They got back to a tie at 46 on Kyle Green’s 3-pointer with 14:44 left in the game. From then on, the score was tied twice and the lead changed six times.
Air Force put its game back of the 3-point line and hit 13 of 22 shots, including Michael Lyons’ 5-of-9 shooting and Mike Fitzgerald’s 3-of-5.
Eikmeier led the Rams with 23 points and Lyons was high for Air Force with 18.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
