FORT COLLINS — Colorado State’s unbeaten record appeared to be in serious jeopardy Wednesday night until reserve guard John Gillon came to the rescue.
Trailing by as many as 14 points in the first half, the 24th-ranked Rams (14-0, 1-0 Mountain West) rallied for a 71-65 victory over Boise State in the conference opener at Moby Arena — thanks in large part to Gillon.
A transfer from Arkansas-Little Rock who practiced with CSU last year, Gillon came off the bench and bagged a trio of 3-pointers in the second half. He was feeling it.
“I know if I hit one or two, the rest are going in,” Gillon said.
A boisterous crowd of 5,115 watched the 6-foot sophomore guard finish with 25 points for a career best — topping a 24-point effort two seasons ago at UALR. His previous best as a Ram had been 20 points against Missouri State on Nov. 26 at the Great Alaska Shootout.
“With this being my first Mountain West game, it has to be the biggest game of my life,” Gillon said.
Colorado State began the night as one of six unbeatens among the 351 teams in Division I. And remained that way.
But it wasn’t easy. Holding a precarious 62-59 lead, CSU had to play the final 3:41 without its leading scorer and rebounder, senior forward J.J. Avila, who committed his fifth personal foul while trying to stop a drive by Boise State guard Mikey Thompson. Avila finished with 13 points.
Then Colorado State’s other senior leader, Daniel Bejarano, hobbled off after a collision. CSU coach Larry Eustachy said it was especially sweet to win at the end with a makeshift lineup.
“We can do a lot better; we were a half-step behind,” Eustachy said. “If it wasn’t for a miraculous performance by John Gillon, we would be sitting here with a loss. Normally, you lose games like that.”
Boise State (10-4, 0-1) appeared to be on a mission, one day after having received word that all-conference swingman Anthony Drmic would undergo season-ending ankle surgery. Thompson helped to make up for Drmic’s absence by scoring 20 points.
The Broncos, swinging the ball from side to side to find open shooters, jumped out to an early 22-8 advantage. Colorado State finally went ahead for the first time since the game’s opening minutes when Gillon bagged his third 3-pointer of the second half to put the Rams up 47-46 with 12:37 to go.
Gillon connected on all four of his 3-point attempts and went 9-for-11 on free throws.
“I love playing for these guys because everybody has each other’s back,” Avila said. “We find a way to win.”
Tom Kensler: tkensler@denverpost.com or
