Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
San Diego State
Rams Drop MWC Opener to San Diego State
1/4/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2006
Colorado State cut a 17-point San Diego State lead to one point with 2:46 to play but the Aztecs hit eight straight free throws in the waning minutes of the game to hold off the Rams 83-75 Wednesday night in San Diego.
CSU's Stephan Gilling hit a three to open the game for the Rams but SDSU put Colorado State in a hole when they went on a 13-0 run in the next 4:08 to jump out to a 13-3 advantage.
The Rams cut the lead to 24-22 with 8:43 to play in the first before the Aztecs took a 37-32 lead into the halftime break.
SDSU began the second half with a 9-2 run and led by 12 at the 17:20 mark and extended their lead to 17 with a 56-39 advantage at 14:11. But CSU would not go away and cut the lead to 58-53 on a 14-2 run and then came within one with 2:46 to play, 73-72.
SDSU's Marcus Slaughter, who was playing for the first time in 18 days after suffering a sprained MCL, hit two free throws after an intentional foul call on Stuart Creason before Mohamed Abukar put in a layup after a CSU turnover to increase the Aztec lead to 77-72 with just over a minute to play.
Jason Smith hit two charity shots for the Rams to cut the lead to three but SDSU hit six free throws and CSU could not score in the last minute to hand Colorado State their third loss of the season.
Junior forward Michael Harrison led CSU with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting while Sean Morris added 13 on 3-of-8 from long range. Cory Lewis had 11 points and Smith and Creason each added 10 to round out five players in double figures for the Rams.
Abukar and guard Brandon Heath each netted 22 points for SDSU who shot 52.6 percent from the floor on the night. CSU hit 30-of-62 (.484) but made just eight free throws compared to 17 for San Diego State.
CSU (11-3) travels to New Mexico Saturday as they continue a stretch of four of five games on the road to open MWC play.
