FORT COLLINS — Transfer Joel Scott dazzled in his Colorado State debut and Isaiah Stevens got hot in the second half as the Rams rallied in the final 13 minutes for an 81-73 victory over Louisiana Tech in their season opener Monday night at Moby Arena.
Despite trailing for almost the entire first half and then by as many as 11 in the second half, the Rams found their stroke down the stretch, going on a 15-1 run during a four-and-a-half-minute span to retake the lead and then hold off the Bulldogs as the clock wound down.
“Good way to find a way to win here,” CSU head coach Niko Medved said. “Give Louisiana Tech a lot of credit. I thought they came in and really made the game choppy. I thought the first time the lights came on, we were a little out of sorts, a little nervous, a little out of character.
“I thought we dug in. We made a few adjustments and found a way to get out of here with a hard-fought win.”
Scott finished with 18 points in his first game for the Rams. He was one of four CSU players in double figures.
Stevens finished with 15 points, 11 of which came in the second half, and 10 assists. Another transfer, Nique Clifford by way of Colorado, had 16 and Patrick Cartier added 14.
Scott, who came to CSU by way of Black Hills State where he was the Division II player of the year last year, also had four rebounds and two blocks.
“We’ve been really anxious,” Scott said of his debut. “We’ve got a really hungry group and we were excited to get going, so it was fun to get out there and play against someone different.”
CSU came out of halftime trailing 34-33 and the Bulldogs scored the first points of the second half. The Rams answered with a powerful dunk by Scott, but they still trailed.
Louisiana Tech then went on a 17-7 run to take an 11-point lead at 53-42 with 14:08 left in the game. The Bulldogs still led by 10 with 12:37 to go, but that was when the Rams began their rally.
A layup by Stevens with 9:41 remaining gave CSU its first lead of the second half and the Rams never looked back. They went ahead by as many as 11 points at 70-59 with 4:29 remaining before Louisiana Tech closed the gap in the final minutes.
But it wasn’t enough as the Rams began the season 1-0.
“I just kept telling them, ‘Guys, just one possession at a time. Just win this possession,’” Medved said. “We had to be more connected as a team. Sure enough, I felt like we were going to make a run. I thought we just really grabbed the momentum and never looked back.”
The teams traded baskets to begin the game before the Bulldogs took a 12-10 lead and held it until the Rams were able to tie the contest at 16 with 12:03 left in the first half.
Trailing 16-10, CSU got back-to-back 3-pointers from Scott and Jalen Lake to get right back into the game.
However, Louisiana Tech scored to go ahead 18-16 and led for most of the remainder of the first half until Cartier tied it at 30 on a layup with 1:52 remaining.
After the Bulldogs took a two-point lead, Scott tied it and then gave the Rams their first lead of the first half with 1:21 to go before halftime on a three-point play. Then a pair of free throws with 17 seconds left gave Louisiana Tech the lead at the break.
After allowing the Bulldogs to build a double-digit lead early in the second half, the Rams clamped down defensively and turned turnovers and missed shots by Louisiana Tech into fast-break opportunities, ultimately turning that 11-point deficit into an 11-point lead.
“You definitely hope we come out and play better than we did in the first half,” Stevens said. “That’s not really realistic, especially early on in the season. Like coach Medved said, this was really good for us to find a way to come out on top. It was a tough game. I feel like tonight, the way we were able to get the job done, I think is important for us.”
CSU will be back at Moby Arena on Friday when it hosts Wright State at 7 p.m.
LOUISIANA TECH (0-1)
Allen 2-6 0-0 4, I.Crawford 2-3 2-2 6, Chavez 4-10 0-0 11, Henry 2-6 0-0 4, Newman 7-12 0-0 15, Mangum 2-8 3-4 7, Henderson 6-9 2-2 16, J.Crawford 3-5 0-0 6, Ree 1-4 1-2 4, Turner 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-64 8-10 73.
COLORADO ST. (1-0)
Cartier 5-11 3-4 14, Scott 6-9 5-6 18, Clifford 4-6 6-6 16, Stevens 4-9 7-8 15, Strong 3-5 2-2 8, Lake 2-6 0-0 5, Palmer 1-2 0-0 3, Kyl.Evans 0-0 0-0 0, Kya.Evans 1-2 0-0 2, Johnson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-51 23-26 81.
Halftime — Louisiana Tech 34-33. 3-Point Goals — Louisiana Tech 7-24 (Chavez 3-7, Henderson 2-3, Ree 1-2, Newman 1-3, Turner 0-1, J.Crawford 0-2, Henry 0-3, Mangum 0-3), Colorado St. 6-16 (Clifford 2-2, Cartier 1-1, Palmer 1-2, Scott 1-2, Lake 1-3, Johnson 0-1, Strong 0-2, Stevens 0-3). Fouled Out — I.Crawford. Rebounds — Louisiana Tech 36 (Mangum 10), Colorado St. 22 (Palmer 5). Assists — Louisiana Tech 13 (Newman 5), Colorado St. 19 (Stevens 10). Total Fouls — Louisiana Tech 23, Colorado St. 14.
