CSU Rams suffer first home defeat in overtime loss to UC Riverside

FORT COLLINS — UC Riverside’s Barrington Hargress hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime, and the Highlanders then outscored Colorado State 12-10 in the extra period to win 77-75 and hand the Rams their second loss in a row Friday night at Moby Arena.

Jalen Lake made what appeared to be the game-winning 3-pointer with three seconds left, but Hargress’s heave at halfcourt denied the home fans the chance to celebrate. In overtime, UC Riverside took a 68-67 lead on a 3-pointer and never let the Rams get back in front.

The Rams’ first home loss of the season came six days after they suffered their first defeat of the season on the road against Ole Miss. Despite a poor shooting night and being outrebounded by double digits, the Rams (3-2) found a way to keep the game close until the end but came up just short.

“Tough night at the office,” CSU head coach Niko Medved said. “Disappointing loss tonight. I hate losing. I’m the most competitive person in the world. This one really stings. We needed to find a way to win this game tonight, and we didn’t.”

After trailing by one at halftime, the Rams scored the first five points of the second half to go ahead 31-27. That lead was short-lived, however, as UC Riverside went on an 11-0 run to go ahead 38-31 with 14:37 remaining in the game.

UC Riverside’s run was finally ended by a Jaylen Crocker-Johnson layup. He was fouled and made the free throw to cut the Highlanders’ lead to 38-34.

Just over a minute later, a 3-pointer by Keshawn Williams cut the UC Riverside lead to 38-37, and with 12:23 remaining, a pair of free throws by Crocker-Johnson gave the Rams a 39-38 advantage.

From there, the teams traded baskets until the Highlanders went ahead 46-42 with 9:27 remaining. A jumper by Jalen Lake followed by a 3-pointer by Kyle Jorgensen gave the Rams the lead back at 47-46.

CSU was able to take four-point leads at 54-50 and 56-52, but the Highlanders hit a 3-pointer to make it 56-55 with 2:41 left. A jumper by Crocker-Johnson pushed the Rams’ lead to 60-55 with 1:14 remaining, but the Highlanders wouldn’t go away.

UC Riverside made it 61-60 following two free throws with 35.3 seconds to go and tied it at 62 on a dunk with seven seconds remaining. Then Lake found himself open on the other end and made what appeared to be the game-winner before the Highlanders made the miracle 3.

The Rams talked about fouling and not allowing a shot, but they weren’t able to get it done before the heave.

“We talked about it during the timeout,” Lake said. “I felt like I was farther away, and maybe I could have pressed a little more to try to contest it or maybe foul him. We let him shoot and it went in. It was a tough one.”

Crocker-Johnson led the Rams with a career-high 21 points. Nique Clifford and Jorgensen each had 13, and Lake added 10. CSU shot just 40.3% for the game and the Rams were outrebounded 51-30.

UC Riverside jumped out to an 8-3 lead after the opening tip, but the Rams answered with a 13-3 run to go ahead 16-11 with 11:46 remaining in the first half.

The Highlanders stormed back, going ahead 17-16 with just under 10 minutes left on the clock. UC Riverside led 23-21 when Williams found Clifford for an alley-oop dunk to tie the game at 23 with 1:55 remaining before halftime.

A 3-pointer by Jorgensen gave the Rams a 26-23 lead with 1:06 left, but the Highlanders scored the final four points of the half to take a 27-26 lead into the break.