Jalen Lake epitomized his career, and perhaps this season’s team, in one game.
Colorado State’s men’s basketball pulled out a thrilling 75-72 win against Boise State in the final seconds amidst another Moby Madness. While there were key contributions coming from familiar faces throughout the game on Wednesday, backup center Nikola Djapa helped provide an early burst in his first start that saw the Rams lead for the majority of the game.
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However, an impending sense of defeat fell over the arena as Tyson Degenhart spearheaded a comeback with just over a minute to go. With seven seconds left, Nique Clifford tried, and failed, to call game.
Lake had something to say about that.
“Shoutout to (Jaylen Crocker-Johnson) for that big offensive rebound,” Lake said. “And then him just being able to find me and I’m just able to step up and knock it down. Honestly, after that I just kind of blacked out. I was kind of worried about getting back on defense and making sure they didn’t get one up.”
Lake isn’t one to seek out all the glory, and it’s been that way throughout his four years at CSU. Having graduated high school in 2020, success and spotlight haven’t come easily to the veteran. His class is one that didn’t benefit from all the frills and typical expectations of a collegiate athlete.
None of that deterred him.
“(Lake) has done nothing but just work his tail off every day,” coach Niko Medved said. “(I) asked him to come off the bench last year for the team — he’ll do anything you ask him to do, and nobody deserves to have that happen to him more than him. (I’m) so happy that that could happen.”
With a moment to remember, the Rams are now 2-1 in one-possession finishes, marking a step in the right direction for a potential postseason run.
While CSU actually trailed in field goal percentage, total rebounds and points in the paint, they made up for it by hitting the shots that mattered most. The cohesion was certainly greater for the Rams, who had 10 more assists than the opposition.
“Earlier in the year, I don’t know if we would have won that game,” Clifford said. “It just goes to show how much better we’ve gotten — being able to get over that hump and finish and close out games.”
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Four out of CSU’s seven losses this season came with a single-digit margin — close games haven’t always favored the Rams. With only one loss in the last six contests, though, a glimpse of a brighter future exposed itself for the team.
With starting forward Rashaan Mbemba sitting due to injury, greater depth and preparedness were on display from the start.
“Yeah, it was big time,” Clifford said. “(Djapa) stepped up huge tonight. He was a key to our success, and it’s a credit to him. He hasn’t played really a lot all year and to just be throwing it to the fire as a starter, that’s — big credit to him.”
Fueled by a Djapa dunk on the first play, CSU shot an efficient 58.3 percent from 3 in the first half before falling to 33.3 in the second. The Broncos’ defense tightened as the game progressed, while CSU’s relaxed.
Degenhart almost took full advantage.
“I tell you one thing, I can’t wait for Tyson Degenhart to graduate,” Medved said. “He is a heck of a player — we were teetering there at the end, but our guys just showed a lot of poise and had the will to just make one more play than they did.”
While it wasn’t enough, the talented Bronco put up an electrifying 20 points in just the second half alone. Maybe it was the lack of support, as five BSU players failed to contribute a single point. The Rams, on the other hand, only had one goose egg from Bowen Born, who departed for a significant portion of the game due to injury.
The rest of the team was on go.
“I just thought we were really active,” Medved said. “I thought our pressure was good. I thought we did a good job just kind of disrupting them and not allowing them to catch it on the spots that they wanted to. We defeated screens, we helped each other.”
The physicality and selflessness were on display, which seems to have been asked of the squad this year. This being a team that dealt with the departure of a star among other roster changes has found its groove in recent weeks. Coming into the game, and the season, one question stood above the rest: Who would step up?
The Rams got their answer.
“But you know what, considering what’s happened this year, we’re owed that one coming off,” Medved said. “Great, great, great win by our guys tonight.”
Reach Michael Hovey at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @michaelfhovey.
