The Cowboys had a big opportunity to play spoiler for the Colorado State Rams on their senior night inside Moby Arena in Fort Collins but unfortunately ran out of gas towards the end of the game after just barely trailing the Rams through most of the contest.
The Cowboys didn’t shoot well in the game, hitting only five threes while shooting 26.3% from deep and 38.2% from the field. Their defense was able to keep them in the game, a hopeful sight for the worst defensive team in the Mountain West as they’ve been able to string together two straight good defensive games, but just haven’t found their mark offensively as they lost their previous contest to UNLV in overtime by a score of 75-69.
“We knew we were going to have to weather the storm of their energy early and I thought we did a great job of that,” head coach Jeff Linder said postgame. “We were in position late, but they play so well together and have played a lot of basketball together and that is what was the difference late.”
The Cowboys found themselves down early, as the Rams scored five straight to open the game as the Cowboys struggled to score until Mason Walters would lay it in for the Cowboys’ first points. The Rams would answer, but a three by Sam Griffin and a jumpshot from Akuel Kot would knot both teams together at seven a piece early.
Both teams would battle back and forth midway through the quarter, as the Rams would continue to hold onto their slight leading margin. The Cowboy offense would continue to struggle, as Cam Manyawu kept the Cowboys alive on the offensive glass and free throw line. Brendan Wenzel would eventually hit a three and Kael Combs would knife his way to the basket to yet again make it a tie game at 22 and the Cowboys would even get a two point lead as Manyawu would hit a pair of free throws, but the Cowboys would again stall out for the last five minutes of the game as Walters would be the only one to hit from the field as the Cowboys trailed the Rams 33-27 at half.
It seemed as if both offenses were to take off in the second half, as they’d trade baskets early as Walters would score inside and Griffin would hit his second three. The Rams would make it 37-32 off a lay-in and then would go on a 8-0 run as the Cowboys’ offense would stall and the Rams would take their largest lead of the night at 43-32.
The Cowboys wouldn’t let the lead grow any larger, though, as they’d go on an 8-0 themselves as Griffin and Manyawu would make it 45-42 in favor of the Rams. Both teams would continue to battle but the Cowboys just couldn’t get an edge on the Rams as Combs would again find his way to the basket to make it 48-46. The Rams would push it to a four point lead, but Wenzel would hit a three and would get fouled but couldn’t finish off the four point play as the Cowboys couldn’t tie it up.
The Rams would answer the Wenzel triple with a 7-1 lead as they’d take a 57-50 lead. Once again the Cowboys would battle back with their own 7-0 run as a Kot triple would tie it up at 57 but the Cowboys still wouldn’t be able to overtake the Rams as the Cowboys could only muster up two field goals in the last six minutes of the game as they’d eventually lose 70-62.
The Cowboys were led by Manyawu, who notched himself a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the game. He was paced in double figures by Walters with 12, Wenzel with 11 and Griffin with 10.
The Cowboys will play in their final home game of the season on Tuesday, taking on Air Force on senior night, the game set to tip off at 6:30 p.m.
