Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Alabama State
Second Half Defense Sparks 61-56 Win Over Alabama State
12/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 2006
Chattanooga, Tenn. - The Colorado State men's basketball team rallied from nine points down in the first half to claim a 61-56 victory over Alabama State in the first round of the Dr. Pepper Classic hosted by the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga Friday.
Alabama State (2-8) capped off an eight-point scoring run to open up what would be its largest lead of the game at 19-10 with 7:52 to play in the first half before the Rams would cut the lead to 31-28 by the halftime break.
CSU then came from the locker room with a renewed intensity to storm back to take a 49-38 lead midway through the second period. The Hornets, however, would not go away using an 11-2 run in the next six minutes to make the score 51-49 with 3:30 to play.
CSU guard Cory Lewis and center Stuart Creason added layups on consecutive possessions to give CSU a six-point lead with 1:35 to go in the game. A Tyler Smith layin and free throws by Lewis would be enough to seal the win despite two late-game baskets by ASU.
Creason led the 9-2 Rams with his third career double-double with a career-best 22 points and 10 rebounds. Creason was 9-of-10 from the floor and also added a game high with three blocks.
"I knew I needed to pick it up (when forward Jason Smith was in foul trouble)," commented Creason. "I knew they would have trouble stopping me in the middle."
CSU had just one player in double figures scoring but Tyler Smith had nine and Lewis added eight for the Rams who won their eighth strait game.
"I thought Alabama State played harder than we did," commented CSU head coach Dale Layer following the game. "We were not in sync and very unenergetic at times. We've got to play much better than we did tonight to win tomorrow."
CSU hit 25-of-47 (.532) from the floor but had 21 turnovers in the contest. The Rams were just 2-of-14 (.143) from three-point range and hit 9-of-17 (.529) free throws.
Alabama State was led in scoring by forward Andrew Hayles who had 21 on 9-of-18 shooting. Dustin Richmond had 10 points and five rebounds in the game. The Hornets shot 37 percent (20-of-54) from the floor and made 5-of-17 (.294) from long range.
CSU will face the winner of the Chattanooga vs. Kennesaw State game on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET/6 p.m. MT.
