A bad shooting night finally caught up to the Colorado State men’s basketball team Saturday night.
Coming into Saturday night’s game against the University of Texas-El Paso, the Rams had shot 48 percent from the field in their five wins, including 40 percent from the 3-point line.
Things didn’t go quite like that against the Miners, though.
CSU blew a 17-point halftime lead, and wasted a career-high 35 points and 10 rebounds by senior guard Gian Clavell, losing 99-90 in double overtime in the championship game of the Corpus Christi Coastal Classic.
Lee Moore led the Miners with 28 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while tournament MVP Earvin Morris added 28 more on 10 of 17 shooting.
The Rams pulled down an astounding 73 rebounds, including 28 on the offensive end, though much of that stems from the Rams shooting just 29 of 90 (32.2 percent) from the field and 12-for-41 (29.9 percent) from the 3-point line.
CSU led 47-30 at the half, but UTEP used a run early in the second half to cut the deficit to just five points with 15:47 to play in the second half. The Rams were able to stretch their lead back to as many as 11 points, but the Miners steadily cut into it, tying the game at 66 with 3:35 to play. The teams traded baskets during the rest of the period, with Morris tying the game at 73 with 23 seconds to play. CSU forward Emmanuel Omogbo had a chance to win it on a designed alley-oop tip-in play, but his layup caromed out.
Neither team could stretch its lead to more than two in the first overtime period, and Clavell tied the game at 81 with 20.1 seconds to play. UTEP’s Dominic Artis had a chance to win it, but his jumper with one second left missed.
The Miners dominated the second overtime though, jumping out to a quick four-point lead they would extend to as many as nine with 11 seconds to play. The win moves UTEP to 6-0 overall and drops the Rams to 5-1 on the season and ends their 21-game non-conference home winning streak.
Forward Emmanuel Omogbo chipped in 15 points and a career-high 20 rebounds, John Gillon added 15 points, three rebounds and six assists and Tiel Daniels scored seven points and pulled down 15 rebounds.
CSU returns to action Thursday night at Moby Arena, when the Rams will host Long Beach State. The game tips off at 7 p.m. MT, and will be streamed on the Mountain West Network.
Scott injured
Senior guard Anwtan Scott missed Saturday’s game after spraining his MCL during the Rams’ 90-74 win over Portland Friday night. His timetable for return is unknown.
Video troubles
Saturday’s game was supposed to streamed by UTEP’s athletics website, but Internet connectivity issues in the arena prevented the stream from going live. The Rams’ radio partner, ESPN 105.5 FM, also did not carry the game, and instead carried the USC-UCLA football game broadcast nationally on ESPN Radio.
Collegian Senior Sports Reporter Keegan Pope can be reached at kpope@collegian.com and on Twitter @ByKeeganPope.
