The Cowboys erased a 16-point deficit and took a 76-75 lead on a Justin James three pointer with 17 seconds remaining, but Colorado State guard Prentiss Nixon answered with a triple of his own with five seconds left to give the Rams the 78-76 win on Tuesday evening in Moby Arena in Fort Collins, Colo. Wyoming falls to 17-13 on the season and 7-10 in the MW with the Rams moving to 21-9 overall in the 13-4 in the league.

"I'm tremendously proud of our group and the fight they showed, particularly on senior night at CSU for two terrific players here in their program," UW head coach Allen Edwards said. "With the emotion and shot-making that Colorado State began the game, for us to withstand that storm was impressive.  Then when they went up 10 in the second half, our guys kept fighting and gave us a chance to win.  I was excited by that, but at the same time you have to give (Prentiss) Nixon credit for making a big shot."

An 11-0 run by the Cowboys to tie the contest at 66-66 with 6:15 left in the second half. The Pokes held the Rams scoreless for nearly four minutes, as UW made five-straight field goal attempts. Senior guard Jason McManamen started the streak with his second three-pointer of the night to make him Wyoming's all-time leader in three pointers with 194 passing Brandon Ewing.

 "We took a timeout between the free throws by (J.D.) Paige," Edwards said. "What I told them is we wanted to take advantage of them switching, and then let J.J. (Justin James) play one-on-one.  In the huddle, I told him to drive it, but he hit a long three.  I told him he had to shoot before the time ran out in case we didn't score and needed time to foul right away.  But we make the shot and we're up two.  From there we were in our switching man-to-man defense, and I thought we did a good job.  I just thought Nixon made a very tough shot."  

UW hit 12 three pointers for its seventh-straight game with double-digit three pointers, the longest streak in the MW era of Cowboy basketball. The Rams shot over 60 percent from the field in the first half and used a final three-pointer with just under four seconds left in the game on their way to the win. Both teams shot the ball effectively from the field both shooting over 50 percent on the night.

The Cowboys were led in scoring by James, as he poured in 24 points. James scored 18 of his 24 points in the final 20 minutes and it was his ninth game this season with 20 or more points. Junior forward Hayden Dalton hit five three's on the night, which was a new career-high. He chipped in 17 total points and added a team-best ten rebounds for what was his tenth double-double of the year. Junior forward Alan Herndon joined James and Dalton with double-digit points against the Rams. Herndon dropped 17 on the night for his 22nd games this season in double-figures. 

The Rams got off to a 14-2 lead on the Pokes four minutes into the game going 5-of-7 from the field. The run was highlighted by a pair of three pointers from Gian Clavell. Back-to-back triples from Dalton and a triple from Herndon made it a 17-11 two minutes later.

Colorado State hit 8-of-9 field goals on a run that saw them build a lead to 29-13 nearly halfway through the half. Through the midway point of the opening frame, Colorado State was shooting 79 percent going 11-of-14 from the field.

The Cowboys cut the deficit to single digits at 31-22 on a three-point play from guard Louis Adams at the 7:35 mark. Then cut it to three points at 33-30 on a thunderous jam from James and a deep transition three from Dalton with under six minutes left in the half.

Another run this time of 6-0 pushed the CSU lead to nine points at 41-32 with under three minutes remaining in the first frame. After McManamen's first three of the game made it a 45-41 game, Prentiss Nixon gave the Rams a 48-41 lead into the break with a triple of his own.

Colorado State held the Cowboys without a field goal for over five minutes building a 64-50 lead halfway through the second half. That run was halted by a triple from James and a layup by Herndon to make it a 64-55 game with 10:04 left in the contest.

Wyoming used its 11 point run and the Cowboys took their first lead on a Herndon dunk to make it a 67-66 game with 5:19 left. At the final media timeout, UW trailed by one, 68-69. Clavell hit one of two free throws to give CSU a 70-68 edge just before James hit a jumper at the top of the key to tie the game at 70 with just over three minutes remaining. With 2:30 left, James gave the Pokes a 71-70 lead with another free throw. A Nixon field goal gave the Rams a three point lead, 74-71, until James knocked down two more free throws to pull the Brown and Gold within one. 

Wyoming took the lead with 17 seconds left on the clock after James hit a clutch triple. Nixon followed with an answer to ultimately give CSU the 78-76 win.

Nixon led the Rams with 23 points on the night. Emmanuel Omogbo added 13 points and 12 rebounds. Clavell added 17 points on the night for CSU.

The Cowboys close out the regular season on Saturday hosting San Jose State for a 2 p.m. start in the Arena-Auditorium.