January 29, 2024 |
Photo – Wyoming Cowboys play Colorado State – Courtesy gowyo.com
Miracles do happen in the Border War. Inside The Double-A Saturday, the clock read 51 seconds. Wyoming trailed CSU by a dozen points.
The scene was grim. CSU held Wyoming scoreless for five minutes inside the final ten minutes. And then the improbable began to happen.
The Cowboys, one of the top three-point shooting teams in the country, had grown ice-cold down the stretch, shooting just 0-for-five in the second half. The game looked lost.
Calling the game, Kevin McKinny and Keith Kelly broadcast the gloom-and-doom feeling over Cowboy nation after Wyoming’s Mason Waters picked up his fourth foul to send the Rams to the free throw line.
The fat lady hadn’t sung yet, though. The clock read 1:57 to go. The Rams held a ten-point lead. Wyoming fans were streaming out the doors to beat the rush home. The scoreboard read 62-53 with a minute and a half on the clock. It looked like the Cowboys were out of luck.
The Cowboys forced a steal. Out of their final time out, the Cowboys needed three three-point shots. The three-shot had eluded the Wyoming shooters throughout the second half.
Nique Clifford, an 84% free throw shooter, missed the front end of a one-and-one foul shot opportunity. The Cowboys got the rebound and Sam Griffin hit a clutch three-pointer to make it a 64-60 game.
Jalen Lake hit the front end of a one-and-one but missed the bonus.
CSU’s Josiah Strong fouled Griffin on a three-point shot. Number-3 hit the first two, and purposefully missed the third but the rebound did not go the Cowboys way with 3.7 seconds on the clock.
The score was 65-62. Wyoming was back at the free-throw line. Mason Walters got a friendly roll on the front end of a one-and-one. The second shot was in an out and went out of bounds off CSU player, Josiah Strong.
The Double A was tense as Wyoming head coach Jeff Linder drew up the final play.
In the overtime frame, Akeil Kot added a rare four-point play with 27 seconds left to give Wyoming a two-point lead. He iced the game with two clutch free throws in overtime as time ran out on the Rams.
Down 11 with just over a minute, the Cowboys forced overtime and came out with a three-point win over their arch-rival, CSU. With the astonishing loss, the Rams lose the top-25 status they enjoyed coming into the game.
The Rams looked to be in command deep into the second half before they came undone and Wyoming took control of the game. All told, Wyoming outscored CSU 12-1 in the final minute.
When it was all over, Cowboy head coach Jeff Linder was as impressed as the Wyoming fans who were still on the floor celebrating the win.
With Saturday’s win, the Cowboys improved to 11-9 overall, 4-3 in conference play. The Rams fall to 3-4 in Mountain West play.
The Cowboys now head out on the road for a big road swing that takes them to Air Force on Tuesday night. Bigfoot 99 will have the tip for you beginning at 7 p.m.
