Box Score (html)
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The SWOSU men's basketball team stepped out of conference play and up a level of competition on Sunday for an exhibition against NCAA Division I foe Colorado State. The Rams – members of the Mountain West Conference – used a 47-21 rebounding advantage and field goal shooting above 60% to hand the Bulldogs a 109-55 defeat.
The size of the Rams proved difficult for SWOSU throughout the afternoon, beginning with starting forward J.J. Avila, who poured in 27 points in just 19 minutes of action. He was one of six players to reach double figures for CSU, who improved to 7-3 with the victory.
SWOSU stayed close early on, keeping the game within 10 points for nearly half of the opening period before CSU pushed their lead to 52-28 at the break. The Rams then connected on 18-of-27 (66.7%) of their field goals and 7-of-11 (63.6%) from three-point range in the second half to run away with the game.
The Bulldogs were held to 32.1% (18-of-56) shooting, but nine players got into the scoring act, including several players off the bench.
Michael Bradley led the Bulldogs with 10 points while
Rod Camphor and
TreVante O'Neal had nine and
Trent Washington added eight. Leading scorer
Gary Inglett came off the bench, but was hampered by foul trouble and held to just five points before fouling out.
Six different players connected on a three pointer for the Bulldogs, including Camphor, O'Neal, Washington,
Bret Atkins,
Jordan Franz and
Garrett Hammonds. SWOSU hit 6-of-22 (27.3%) attempts from long range and got a season-high 23 points of production from their bench.
"We have to go back and get better defensively, but we've known that has been our deficiency all year," Head Coach
Bob Battisti said during his postgame interview. "They drew a hot hand and shot the ball really well today, but we still have to defend better. This was a great opportunity for our team to come play in this type of arena and atmosphere, but now we'll have to review the tape and use it to get better before we come back after the holiday break."
The Bulldogs record is not harmed by the defeat, meaning SWOSU ends the first semester at 4-3 and still tied atop the GAC standings at 2-0. The next action for the Bulldogs is not until December 30 when they welcome Hillsdale Baptist to Weatherford for non-conference action.
