Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
Air Force
Rams snap road streak at Air Force
2/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2009
USAF Academy, Colo. - Marcus Walker scored 20 points and Arin Dunn nailed a pair of clutch free throws in the closing seconds to lead Colorado State to a 71-66 win over Air Force at Clune Arena on Saturday afternoon. The win snapped CSU's 19-game road losing streak in Mountain West action and dropped the Falcons to their 14th consecutive defeat.
The Rams, who led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but led by just three at halftime, survived a career day from Air Force's Andrew Henke. The senior had tied his career high (23) by halftime and finished with 29. The Rams held the Falcons without a field goal for nearly 8 of the final 9 minutes and scored 16 of the final 21 points.
"I really liked this win for our two seniors," said Head Coach Tim Miles. "We didn't want this [MWC road losing streak] hanging over them or this program and I talked to them about it. Those two were really good for us tonight."
Colorado State (9-18, 4-9 MWC) was victorious at Air Force for the first time since Feb. 25, 2002, and gave CSU a season sweep of the Falcons (9-17, 0-13 MWC) for the first time since the 2002 season. It also marked the Rams' first road win in conference action since Jan. 17, 2007, when the Rams won at TCU.
"Air Force has had our number and that's something we need to reverse," said Miles. "A lot of teams in this conference have had our number and fortunately we ended that tonight."
The Rams trailed by six points (61-55) after a Henke three-pointer with 8:28 left in the game before a 6-0 Rams run tied the game with 6:19 left. That Air Force basket would be its last field goal until an Evan Washington three-pointer with 56 seconds left. CSU built a six-point lead on a Walker three-pointer with 3:05 remaining. Neither team would score for the next 2 minutes before Washington's triple. Air Force's Matt Holland missed a three-pointer with 12 seconds left that would have tied the game and then Dunn nailed both free throws with 7.5 seconds remaining to seal the win.
Walker went 7-13 from the field, including 4-6 from three-point range, for his 20 points while Andre McFarland tied a career high with four three-pointers on his way to 13 points. Andy Ogide added 10 while Willis Gardner tallied eight points, six rebounds and six assists in the win.
In the first half, CSU built a 14-point lead with 2:45 remaining but Henke posted 10 straight points to bring the Falcons back within four points (39-35). Adam Nigon then hit a jumper with 4.5 seconds left in the half to put CSU up six only to have Air Force's Evan Washington bury a running three-pointer from 30 feet at the buzzer to bring the Falcons within three points (41-38) at halftime.
The Rams will return to Moby Arena for their final two home games of the season beginning with the "Border War" against Wyoming on Wednesday at 6 p.m. MST. CSU will then close out the home portion of its season when it hosts New Mexico on Senior Day next Saturday at 7 p.m. MST.
"This is huge for us," said Walker. "We really wanted to end this streak and then go into the next game at home against our rivals [Wyoming] and see what happens. I don't care if I score another point, I just want to win."
