Sept. 2, 2008

By Nic Hallisey
Athletic Media Relations

VANCOUVER, British Columbia - Blame it on the fact that the Rams were playing its third game in as many days. Or maybe it was adjusting to the rubber court. But whatever it was, it wasn’t pretty.

In a game full of bad breaks and missed opportunities, the Rams were outplayed in nearly every category Monday morning, falling to Trinity Western, 95-83.

The Rams played in what looked like a school gymnasium and church combined. The gym was small, had very dim lighting, and tartan rubber floor instead of wood. Behind the team benches was a stage with instruments set up for a church worship band on Sundays. With very little seating, some spectators even sat on the stage where the church service takes place.

“Good teams overcome all factors and find a way to be successful with their circumstances,” Head Coach Tim Miles said. “The question you ask is why? How hard did our guys prepare in the months and weeks prior to today? I think we have work to do.”

The Rams came out of the gates slow, and never regained the lost momentum. Trinity Western took an early lead off of two three-pointers, forcing a Colorado State timeout. Shot after shot did not fall, and the Rams went on a drought of nearly five minutes without scoring. CSU trailed by as many as 15 points in the first quarter and 20 in the game.

“I credit Trinity Western,” Miles said. “They’re a very physical team and they came out and played hard and have a wealth of talent. I’m disappointed that we only competed at times and that we didn’t get consistent performances across the board.”

The Rams closed the first quarter with a 9-0 run including a steal and made layup just before the buzzer by freshman Jesse Carr to cut the gap to six. After sophomore Andre McFarland’s three pointer to start the second extended CSU’s run to 12-0, and the Spartans’ lead to just three, the Rams tied the game for the first time with a fast break dunk by sophomore Harvey Perry with four minutes to play in the half.

More missed opportunities hurt the Rams, however, after they missed a chance to take the lead at the end of the half. Trailing by just one, sophomore Andy Ogide went to the free throw line, but came up short on both attempts. On the day, the Rams converted only 65 percent of their 40 shots from the line.

“The lost opportunities at the free throw line are just momentum killers,” Miles said. “You’ve got to take your opportunities and seize them when you have the chance.”

With a five point lead at the half, the Spartans started to pull away early in the third until Carr hit back-to-back threes to bring the Rams within striking distance, trailing by six with 5:30 to play in the third. Carr led the Rams with 19 points on the day, including 3-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc. But the Rams couldn’t keep up with the Spartans’ scrappy and aggressive play. The Rams shot just 37.1 percent from the floor and 19.2 percent from three-point range, but had four players reach double figures in points. Carr, sophomore Josh Simmons, Ogide, and McFarland scored 19, 13, 13, and 11 points respectively.

Despite the loss in the finale, several positives came out of the Rams foreign tour to Vancouver. Perhaps the main advantage was being able to see where the team is at early in the season.

“It’s an experience that is great for teams to do,” Miles said. “It sheds a lot of light on strengths of some players and weaknesses of other players. I think our speed is much improved but we have to make better decisions. The good news is that we have plenty of time to work on it. It’s good to be able to know this now instead of the end of October.”

Due to NCAA regulations, the Rams cannot continue full practices again until October 17. In the meantime, the Rams plan on continuing their pre-season training, small workouts, and gearing up for their 2008-09 campaign.

“From the competition side of it, I’m excited to get back in the gym and get back to work,” Miles said. “We know what we need to do and how to put ourselves in position to make the postseason, which is always a CSU Ram standard.”

Final thoughts

“Vancouver was a great town and our basketball travelers, Nels Hawkenson and Bob Hannestad, were excellent hosts. I highly recommend this trip to any NCAA team. It was very well done.” – Tim Miles

“Vancouver was nice and I had a lot of fun. It was good for us to bond, not just as players, but as coaches too.” – Senior Marcus Walker

Injury update

Sophomore Dan Vandervieran sat out Sunday night due to a shoulder injury. He was back in the lineup Monday, but was limited to just four minutes because of early foul trouble.

Senior Willis Gardner, who had off-season shoulder surgery, is expected to return to the Rams’ lineup next month.