Air Force Academy
Colorado State
Falcons Fall To Rams, 70-48
1/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 9, 2010
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) _ Colorado State's defenders knew what to expect of Air Force. The Rams had seen it deliberate Princeton offense before.
"We're experienced against that offense and defended the Princeton defense real well and we should have,'' said Rams forward Travis Franklin. "We saw that style against Denver, UC-Davis and Colorado.''
Andy Ogide scored 13 points and Colorado State defeated Air Force 70-48 Saturday night.
Franklin added 11 points for Colorado State (11-5, 2-0 Mountain West), unbeaten after two conference games for the first time since 2002-03. The Rams have won three in a row overall.
"We filled up the lanes and took away their shots,'' Franklin said. "And we came out aggressively just like the coach preached.''
And their familiarity and their aggressive defensive play paid dividends. The Rams forced 18 turnovers and Air Force into its lowest scoring half of the season.
"I think the aggressor always wins in competition,'' Colorado State coach Tim Miles said. "Look at what we did to them in the paint, where we outscored them 30-14. That was a key.''
Mike Fitzgerald had 11 points for the Falcons (8-7, 0-2), who have an 11-game conference road losing streak. Air Force's last conference road victory came Feb. 23, 2008 in Fort Collins.
The loss was also their 18th consecutive conference setback overall.
"I don't know how to categorize how we played,'' Air Force coach Jeff Reynolds said. I'm a little surprised. Tonight we came out and it seemed like we couldn't do anything.''
The Falcons were without three starters. Injuries sidelined leading scorer Grant Parker (groin strain), Sammy Schafer (concussion) and Taylor Stewart (broken hand).
Air Force shot 26 percent in the first half, but made its first three shots of the second half, including a layup by Taylor Broekhuis with 16:11 to play to make it a 31-23 game.
Broekhuis' short jumper pulled the Falcons to within 34-28 before Travis Busch's backdoor layup began a 12-3 run that pushed Colorado State's lead to 46-31 with 10:25 left.
"I thought we were back in it when we cut it to six,'' Reynolds said. "And then we lost the momentum again.
Michael Lyons' jumper ended the drought for the Falcons, but Colorado responded with a 14-4 run, including nine points by Ogide, that gave the Rams their biggest lead, 60-37 with 5:52 remaining.
Colorado State began clearing its bench, and Air Force closed to within 60-43 on Evan Washington's basket but got no closer.
Franklin had seven points at halftime, and the Rams led 26-15. Their lead could have been larger, but they made only 2-of-7 free throws in the last three minutes.
Air Force was 6 of 23 from the field before halftime, and its point total was its lowest for a first half this season.
"I thought we took away some of the things that can really hurt teams,'' Miles said. "They carved up our zone at the start of the second half, but we went to man defense and I thought our kids guarded pretty well.
Evan Washington was shaking his head after a 2-for-6 shooting game and five points.
"I attacked the basket early and couldn't get some shots to fall,'' Washington said. "That kind of affected my confidence and Colorado State did a nice job of packing the lane. They knew that I am all about driving.''
