Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
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Western Michigan
Rams Saddle Broncos in First Round of Rainbow Classic
12/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 20, 2005
Honolulu, Hawaii - Colorado State's Michael Harrison had a career-high 24 points on 11-of-12 shooting and Stephan Gilling notched his best scoring night of the year with 18 points as the Rams rolled to an 87-69 victory over Western Michigan in the first round of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic in Honolulu Tuesday night.
CSU sprinted to an early 19-8 lead before the Broncos narrowed the gap to 25-22 with 6:36 to play in the first. CSU then used a 14-4 run over the next four minutes to lead 39-26 with 2:31 left. Western Michigan closed the half strong however with a 7-2 run to make the halftime count 41-33 after a last second bucket by Freddy Robinson.
WMU stayed within striking distance early in the second before the Rams used an 11-2 run to go up by 20 points with 9:19 left in the contest. CSU then put the game on ice with late-game threes by Gilling and Ryan Brown to earn their largest win of the season, 87-69.
Harrison's 24 points led all scorers with Gilling scoring 18, Jason Smith hitting for 14 and Robinson connecting for 11 in the win. Harrison posted a game-high eight rebounds and four blocks while Smith added seven to go with six assists.
CSU shot a season-best 61 percent from the floor on 33-of-54 for the night and 9-of-19 from long range. The Rams committed 22 turnovers in the game, 17 of which came in the first half but forced the Broncos to turn the ball over 20 times themselves in the game.
Western Michigan shot 40.7 percent from the floor and 81 percent from the free throw line and were led by Joe Reitz's 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
CSU's victory gives the Rams an 8-1 record for just the sixth time in school history. Western Michigan drops to 2-5 on the year with the setback.
Colorado State moves on to the championship side of the Rainbow Classic bracket and will play the winner of Loyola Marymount and host school Hawai'i Thursday at 7:30 p.m. HT/ 10:30 p.m. MT. That game can be heard on the Colorado State Sports Network on AM 1410.
