Rams Take Finale, AFA up Next

Trying to follow a pattern that landed them in the NCAA Tournament a season ago, the CSU Rams ended a seven-game losing skid on Saturday, just in time to meet conference champion Air Force in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. The Rams and Falcons will tip off in the third game of the day on Thursday, set for 7 p.m.

Matt Nelson matched his season high with 25 points and Freddy Robinson added 19 points as Colorado State ended that seven-game losing streak with a 76-66 victory over New Mexico.

Nelson had 16 points on 5-for-6 shooting and 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the second half for CSU, which finished the regular season at 12-15, 4-10 in conference play.

One year ago, the Rams also broke a seven game slide by winning their regular season finale, and took that momentum into the conference tourney at UNLV, where they shocked the college basketball world by winning the MWC to earn a NCAA first round match up with Duke.

The rest of the conference tourney line up is as follows:

#3 Utah vs. #6 San Diego State 1 p.m.

#2 BYU vs. #7 Wyoming 3:30 p.m.

#1 Air Force vs. #8 Colorado State 7 p.m.

#4 UNLV vs. #5 New Mexico 10 p.m.