Recap: Rams roll Lobos 86-69 with hot 3-point shooting in second half

New Mexico always presents a challenge to Colorado State, with the Lobos taking 35 of the last 41 meetings between the two teams. But, luckily for the fans in attendance, the Rams brought their A-game on Tuesday to win 86-69.

The Colorado State Rams found their rhythm early Tuesday night, jumping out to a 7-0 lead on New Mexico. It was a near opposite start from their Border War loss on Saturday, when they trailed 14-0 and never regained momentum, losing by 16. And, then it happened again on Tuesday; the Lobos went off for an 11-0 run to take the 11-7 lead. It was then back-and-forth for most of the rest of the first half until Emmanuel Omogbo scored seven straight points – a 3-pointer and two layups – to give CSU the seven-point lead just before the break. The green and gold led 37-31 at halftime.

The Rams continued the momentum when Antwan Scott hit two straight 3-pointers to push that lead to 12 points, the largest to that point. CSU, who was ice cold (3-14, 22 percent) from downtown in the first half, started the second half 6-8 from beyond the arc to again push the lead to 15 five minutes into the half. That hot shooting continued, and when Joh Gillon made one frown deep, it pushed the Rams ahead 16 with seven minutes to play. That lead kept growing, to 21 with 3:48 to go as CSU rolled the Lobos inside Moby Arena 86-69.

STAR OF THE GAME

Antwan Scott took over in the second half and led all scorers with 18 on 6-14 shooting, including making 4-10 from beyond the arc. He added four assists and a rebound.

Emmanuel Omogbo played great, too. With 18 points and 13 rebounds and two assists.

PLAY OF THE GAME

Scott’s second 3-pointer of the second half, which pushed the Rams lead to 12 was the play of the game because Colorado State controlled from that point forward. It was a comfortable enough lead to salt away the win.

TURNING POINT

The turning point came late in the first half as Emmanuel Omogbo scored 7 straight points to push the Rams lead to 35-28 over New Mexico with only two minutes to go until the break. The Rams led by six at the half.

BY THE NUMBERS

The home team went an appalling 3-14 (22 percent) from downtown in the first half. In the second half, they made 9-16 (56.3 percent), which propelled them to victory.

The Rams lived by the 3, but they also won inside, leading points in the paint 34-22.

Attendance: 3,148

LASTING IMPACT

This win gets Colorado State off their three-game losing streak and back in the win column. It’s the only time these two play this year outside of a possible Mountain West tournament matchup.

CSU improves to 15-13 overall, 7-8 MW.

Here’s some dancing for you!

More JD Paige dancing. #CSURams pic.twitter.com/3KbwuuULAu

— Rich (midnight blue 🌠and sunshine yellow ☀️) (@RichKurtzman) February 24, 2016

https://twitter.com/OIpelton9/status/702353815744348161

WHAT’S NEXT

The Rams now have four days off before they face Nevada (16-10) in Reno on Sunday. The game is scheduled for tip-off at 3 p.m. MT.