Cowboys Collapse in Border War Loss to Rams

The offense simply disappeared. The Wyoming Cowboys blew a 7-point halftime lead at Colorado State and lost 54-46 to the Rams Saturday night in Fort Collins. The Pokes shot just 24 percent from the field in the second half and managed only two field goals over the last 14 minutes of the game.

Colorado State (16-9, 5-5) used an 11-3 run over a seven minute span of the second half to gain control of the game. Greg Smith's 3-pointer from the top of the key gave them their first lead of the game, and the Rams held UW to six points the rest of the way. CSU hit all seven of their free throw attempts in the last five minutes to preserve the victory.

The Cowboys got a three from Luke Martinez and a Francisco Cruz lay-in as their only field goals in the last 14 minutes. The only other points came on four free throws, two apiece from Cruz  and Leonard Washington.

UW used an early 9-2 run and gained control in the first half for a 15-7 lead. Colorado State cut the Cowboy lead to four points twice, but the Pokes answered with an Adam Waddell dunk, Martinez 3-pointer and JayDee Luster's jumper at the buzzer for a 28-21 lead at halftime.

Martinez and Luster combined for three 3-pointers early in the second half, as the Cowboys maintained a 37-30 advantage. That's when the Rams came through with the key run, and the Pokes couldn't buy a bucket. They missed 13 of their last 15 shots in the game.

Wyoming (18-8, 4-6) was led by Martinez with 15 points and Cruz with 10. They shot 38.6 percent from the field, which included 35 percent (7-20) from deep. The Pokes only went to the free throw line 8 times. They made five.

The Rams shot 51.4 percent (19-37) from the field, were only 2-6 (33 percent) from 3, but went 14-of-16 (87.5 percent) at the charity stripe.

The Cowboys return to action on the road Wednesday night at San Diego State. Game time is set for 8:30 pm, Mountain Time. Wyoming basketball can be heard on KCGY (FM 95.1) starting at 8 pm Wednesday night, with Cowboy Talk following the game broadcast.