Neither the Rams nor Cowboys have enjoyed a solid season, but that didn’t stop Fort Collins from filling up Moby Arena on Friday night.
The Whale was a-rockin’ with a capacity 8,093 fans, with almost all of them orange-clad in representation of Colorado State’s agricultural heritage and their previous school colors.
And those fans were in for a treat as John Tonje and Isaiah Stevens put on a show and the hometown Rams romped the rival Cowboys 84-71.
Stevens was an assist machine on Friday night, dishing out eight of them in the first half, which not only helped CSU gain a 10-point lead at the break, but gave him the all-time Colorado State assist record for a men’s or women’s player. Stevens’ 585th assist passed Ellen Nystrom of the women’s team.
But his history-making wasn’t done there; Stevens’ 12 total assists were also a single-game record, tying two other players.
Meanwhile, if Tonje was warm in the first half, he was orange-hot in the second period. The senior scored seven in the first half and 18 of his game-high 25 points in the second half. He went 5-of-9 from the floor in that period and 6-of-6 from the free throw line as the Rams fought stalwartly to keep the Cowboys at bay.
Wyoming didn’t just fade into the night, they battled tough, bringing the game to within five points with 7:29 to play. But a flurry of free throws and buckets by Stevens and Tonje helped CSU pull ahead by 15 with 4:10 in regulation, basically putting the game away. Tonje finished with a game-high 25 and 6 rebounds, while Stevens recorded his 11th career double-double with 11 points and 12 assists.
The Rams improved to 13-16, 5-11 MW while the Cowboys stay at the bottom of the conference at 8-20, 3-13 MW.
Next up for Colorado State is a road game at San Jose State (16-12, 7-8 MW) with a late 9 p.m. MT tip in California. That game is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 28. Then, CSU has one final game, at home against powerhouse New Mexico (20-8, 14-3 MW) on Friday, Mar. 3 before the Mountain West Tournament in Las Vegas, NV.
