FORT COLLINS — One by one, Colorado State head coach Niko Medved pulled his four seniors off the court in the waning minutes of their final regular season home game Tuesday night at Moby Arena.
A bloodied Bowen Born was first, leaving to an ovation from the home crowd after taking an elbow to the face. Just behind was Nique Clifford, a likely NBA draft pick who spent two years at CSU upon transferring from Colorado.
Not long after, Medved subbed out Jalen Lake, a four-year player at CSU, and Ethan Morton, another who only spent one season in Fort Collins after transferring from Purdue.
“I think it’s really cool any time your seniors can go out like that and get an opportunity to get the ovation at the end of the game,” Medved said. “It was a great day for those guys to do that. Really proud of them; great way to end the home regular season.”
A special night was made even more so with an 83-56 victory over San Jose State and former CSU coach Tim Miles. It was the Rams’ 15th Mountain West Conference victory, setting the program record for conference wins in a season.
The Rams took control of the game early in the first half and cruised to their 21st victory of the season. It was also their sixth in a row and 11th in their past 13.
CSU also maintained sole possession of second place in the Mountain West Conference at 15-4.
“I believe I have this right, 15 conference wins is a school record,” Medved said. “Just to reflect again on where this team was at in the middle of December, then to think that they could set a conference record for wins. It’s pretty remarkable for this group. So, I’m really proud them.”
The game was close for the first few minutes until a 3-pointer from Kyan Evans gave the Rams a 7-4 lead they would never relinquish.
CSU took its first double-digit lead of the game on a 3-pointer from Lake that made it 17-6 with 10:07 remaining before halftime, and then took its largest lead of the first half, 35-20, on another 3-pointer by Evans with 1:23 left in the first half.
San Jose State was able to get a 3-pointer of its own in the final minute of the half, and the Rams led 35-23 at the break.
Evans led the Rams in the first half with eight points. Clifford had seven as the Rams shot 48% from the field while holding the Spartans to 32%.
CSU continued to extend its lead in the second half. Two minutes in, the Rams took a 20-point lead at 45-25 on a jumper by Lake. The Spartans never got closer than 18 points after that.
With 8:52 left, a 3-pointer by Keshawn Williams gave the Rams a 32-point lead at 68-36. A layup by Lake at the 7:18 mark capped a 12-0 CSU run that made it 72-40.
Clifford finished with 15 points. Evans had 13 and Lake 12. The Rams ended up shooting 64% from the field in the second half, outscoring the Spartans 48-33 in the final 20 minutes.
After the game, Lake took time to reflect on the final regular season game at Moby and his four-year career at CSU.
“It definitely hit me today,” Lake said. “I was just trying to take it one day at a time, but when I saw the crowd out there and seeing everybody in the stands, I mean, these four years have been special. “It means a lot and I’ve grown so much, not only on the court but off the court as well.”
CSU will close out the regular season Friday at Boise State.
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