Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Stanford
Stanford outlasts Rams at Moby
12/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 14, 2008
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By John Manuszak
Athletic Media Relations
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – For the third time at home this season, the Colorado State Rams hung tough with a perennial NCAA tournament participant, and unfortunately for the third time this season, fell just short.
Anthony Goods scored a game-high 23 points and Stanford used an 18-7 run to open the second half to lead the Cardinal to a 74-63 win over Colorado State on Sunday evening at Moby Arena.
Earlier this season, the Rams gave Minnesota all they could handle but fell by one at the buzzer and then dropped a close battle with Nevada at home.
“Tonight, we turned it over on thee of our first four possessions in the second half and you could just feel the deflation,” said Head Coach Tim Miles. “You have to earn victories and you have to earn winning and we have to go out and fight.”
The Rams (3-7) appeared down and out as they trailed by 14 points with 9 minutes, 22 seconds remaining in the game. But as they have done so many times already in the young season, the Rams made things interesting.
After going scoreless in his first 24 minutes on the floor, Andre McFarland hit back-to-back three-pointers with 7:02 left in the game that brought the Rams back within six points (58-52). Andy Ogide followed that up with a two-handed slam off an assist from Josh Simmons and the Rams were right back in the ballgame (58-54). But the Cardinal responded by scoring each of the next four points to take a 62-54 lead. The Rams would get within five points on two occasions in the final 4:25 of the game but Stanford sealed the win thanks to a 5-0 run that put it ahead 69-59 with 2:51 remaining. The Cardinal would lead by at least nine points the rest of the way.
“We just have to keep working at playing with poise,” said Miles. “It’s about mentally sticking with it, and accepting pressure and still making the next best action. Sometimes we just freeze up and have our heads down, and you get in trouble when you do that.”
Marcus Walker scored a team-high 15 points for the Rams while Ogide added his third double-double of the season with 13 points on 5-9 shooting and 10 rebounds.
Goods hit 8-14 from the field, including four three-pointers for his 23 points, which led four Cardinal in double figures. Josh Owens added 14 points while Landry Fields added 11 points and nine rebounds and Lawrence Hill tallied 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Cardinal jumped out quickly in the first half as it hit five of its first 10 shots to help build a 15-6 lead. A quick 5-0 burst by the Rams brought them back within 15-11 and eventually CSU would take its first lead of the game at 21-20, thanks to a Willis Gardner baseline jumper. Stanford got a pair of dunks from Owens, which put it up 27-25 before the Rams retook the lead on a Gardner three-pointer. Goods’ jumper with 59 seconds in the half closed the scoring in the opening period and gave the Cardinal a 33-32 halftime lead.
Sunday’s game marked the Rams’ last home game until Jan. 10 when CSU opens MWC play against BYU. CSU will next be in action on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. MST, when it visits the University of Denver.
