FORT COLLINS — The Colorado State men’s basketball team closed its regular season with a 92-84 victory over New Mexico late Friday night at Moby Arena.
The Rams took the lead midway through the first half and never relinquished it en-route to their fourth win in their last seven games.
CSU improved to 14-17 overall and 6-12 in the Mountain West Conference. The Rams avenged their loss to the Lobos at The Pit in Albuquerque back on Dec. 28.
The Rams led by six at halftime and wasted no time adding to their lead. They led by 10 several times before taking a 12-point lead at 66-54 with 12:25 left in the game.
However, the Lobos didn’t go away. They clawed back to within four at 77-73 with just under six minutes remaining. The Rams’ lead was 79-75 when a 3-pointer by Jalen Lake pushed the CSU advantage to 82-75.
New Mexico wouldn’t get closer than six the rest of the way.
On a night they were recognized, seniors Isaiah Stevens and John Tonje didn’t disappoint. Stevens finished with another double-double. He had 17 points and 13 assists, finally breaking the single-game record of 12 he shared with a couple of others. Tonje led the Rams with 24 points, Lake had 15 and Patrick Cartier 10.
A back-and-forth first half for the first seven minutes turned in CSU’s favor following a 3-pointer by Baylor Hebb that gave the Rams a 17-15 lead with 12:43 left in the period.
The Rams wouldn’t trail again in the opening period, leading by as many as eight at 41-33 with 28 seconds to go in the half. CSU went into the break with a 41-35 lead.
Tonje led the Rams with nine points in the first half. Patrick Cartier and Hebb each had seven as the Rams shot 59.3% from the field and were a perfect 4-for-4 from the free-throw line.
CSU will now wait for Saturday’s games to be completed and find out where it will be seeded in the upcoming Mountain West tournament.
