Monday night saw another game earn its place in the Border Wars history books with the Wyoming Cowboys beating the Colorado State Rams 84-78 in overtime.
7,539 people came to watch the age-old rivals meet on-court, the highest attendance since the Jan. 30, 2016 game, also against Colorado State.
The event was ‘white-out’ themed, meaning the overwhelming majority of the crowd wearing white gave the impression that it had recently snowed inside the Arena-Auditorium.
The cold didn’t stop there for the visiting Rams, however. The Arena-Auditorium again earned its nickname “Dome of Doom” thanks to what was possibly an atmosphere of record-high intensity.
Head coach Jeff Linder thanked both the audience in general and specifically the UW student section for lending their energy to the win.
“When you add that type of energy and that type of support from the crowd, we do good things,” Linder said. “When we need a stop, we need it to get loud––and it got loud tonight.”
A considerable number of CSU fans also made the 66 mile trek to support their Rams, but they were easily drowned out by the incomparable din of 5,000 plus Cowboys fans willing any of the 84 points into existence with their voices.
The record-high intense atmosphere inside the Arena-Auditorium Monday night wasn’t the only impressive aspect of the event.
The closeness of the game between the Cowboys and the Rams was of course the driving factor of said atmosphere.
The lead of the game changed 16 times over 40 regulation minutes plus 5 minutes of overtime. The score was tied a total of 10 times.
It would be harsh to say that the first half of the game might go unnoticed when compared to the second half and overtime, but it was equally as closely matched as the other twenty-five minutes of game time.
The game began with senior Hunter Maldonaldo putting up the Cowboys’ first 4 points and their defense preventing the Rams from scoring until well into the fourth minute of play.
Sophomore forward Jeremiah Oden followed with two three-pointers within 30 seconds of each other, leading to the score being tied 12-12 by the first time out.
The remainder of the half was equally close, with the score standing at a one point difference at the close of the half, 34-35 advantage Rams.
The second half only heated up, with Wyoming scoring 36 points to the Rams’ 35. The final ten seconds of regulation time were possibly the closest of the entire game, with four timeouts within the final 1:09 on the clock.
In the final 10 seconds of the game, a missed shot by the Rams and two near-perfect free throws by Graham Ike sent the game into overtime and the crowd into a higher level of Cowboy hysteria.
The Cowboys nearly doubled the Rams’ overtime scoring, adding 14 points to their opponent’s 8. The final minutes of overtime were led by the Cowboys, who outscored the Rams 8-2 in the last minute.
The effort was led by a three-pointer from Drake Jefferies and a slam dunk from Oden to finish the game and send the Rams back across the border.
Four of the game’s nine three-pointers made by Wyoming came in the first half, with four more in the second and the final made by Jefferies in overtime. Jefferies led the team in three-pointers, making five of his nine shots from outside the paint.
Overall scoring was led by Maldonaldo, who achieved a career record of 35 points scored, 10 of which were made from the stripe.
Maldonaldo also led the team in turnovers, with eight total. Some would call that a consequence of what Linder called “ another outstanding game from Maldo.”
Cowboys Football head coach Craig Bohl has plenty of experience beating the Rams, and spent the game courtside within reach of the Cowboys bench.
“Jeff does great things, and I think this team epitomizes the Cowboy athletic spirit. We admire this team, and we’re gonna win this ball game,” Bohl said, standing just behind the home bench during one of the four timeouts within the final minute of regulation time.
Bohl also visited practice the day before the game, according to Linder.
“I appreciate Coach Bohl for showing us what it means to win in the Border Wars, and I’m thankful for his friendship and support,” Linder said.
“That was an incredible college basketball game between two very good teams, who know each other really well,” Linder said. “That crowd tonight is one of the reasons I wanted to come to Wyoming. I know what this place can be like when you put a good team on the floor.”
