Yes you can spell it Yoming.
No W’s to be found in the 2020-21 Border War Series between the two bitter rivals. No W’s from the Women’s games. No W’s from the Bronze Boot football game.
A laugher for 15 minutes turned into a nail biter until the final seconds…
”We knew it was going to be a dogfight”, said CSU’s David Roddy.
And that it was as the Rams gave up all but one point of an 18-point first half lead. They were struggling to put the ball in the basket and turning the ball over a bit too much.
But when it was time to put the hammer down, they did as they held the Coboys scoreless over the final 2:27 and scored 8 points of their own to finish the home side off.
Roddy led the Rams with 15 points, none bigger than a last minute jumper that gave the Rams a two-score lead at 64-59. It was followed with a Kendle Moore steal off a deflection by Isaiah Stevens and the Rams would close the game out at the free throw line.
Roddy added 11 rebounds to complete a double-double. Stevens added 14 and super-sub John Tonje added 10 from the bench.
The Rams had to dig deep in front of a vociferous and energized crowd.
”Toughness travels”, said Medved post-game, using one of the favorite quotes of assistant JR Blount.
Defense Travels Too
The Rams held Yoming to their 2nd lowest point total of the season and their second lowest Points Per Possession average as well.
The Pokes were held to .88 points per possession, well under their season average of 1.06.
How did the Rams do it?
Mostly by stifling Wyoming’s talented freshmen guards, Marcus Williams and Xavier DuSell.
The two of them had scored 17 each in the first match-up on Thursday night. Those totals included 9-19 from beyond the arc.
The Rams knew they would have to do better in game 2.
Said Roddy post-game, “Those two are really good shooters. We needed to keep a body on them. Locate our man, stay in our gaps, and communicate.”
Said Stevens, “We had to dig down defensively. Play to our strengths. We dictated what we were going to allow them to do.”
From Medved’s perspective it came down to “A better feel for the seams, tighter with our rotations, and hands were active.”
The result you ask…
Williams would finish with 8 points and DuSell with 5. And they would shoot a combined 1-11 from beyond the arc.
A far cry from the game two nights prior.
A winning performance.
Glass Work
The Rams finished the game with a 39-25 rebounding margin. They were effective on both ends. Medved noted post game that even when they were shooting a high percentage in the first half, they found a way to grab 4 offensive boards, a high number considering how few opportunities were available.
He knew they had to do a much better job on the offensive glass after game 1.
And that they did.
The numbers don’t lie. Rams did not shoot the ball very well the last 25 minutes and turned the ball over a little too much. But give Yoming some of the credit for that. Bottom line is that this current set of Rams know how to close out games.
I was blown away when reviewing the stats afterwards to see we only made THREE 3pt in the game. It has been sloppy this week, but being able to pull out victories when you are denting the iron is a good sign.