Colorado Springs, CO – Dorian Green scored 22 points and Wes Eikmeier added 19 as 24th-ranked Colorado State held off Air Force, 89-86, on Saturday.
Greg Smith dropped in 16 points, Colton Iverson scored 15 and Pierce Hornung added 13 points and 16 rebounds for the Rams (21-4, 8-2 MWC), who have rattled off six straight wins.
"This is our third road win in league and we had one last year. So, our team has bought in totally to how to win," said Colorado State head coach Larry Eustachy. "I'd like to have had the game end quicker it seemed like it was there forever."
Michael Lyons poured in a game-high 45 points on 17-of-25 shooting -- 6-of-13 from 3-point range -- for the Falcons (15-9, 6-5), losers in three of their last four.
"Has anybody ever seen an individual performance like that? That was pretty good wasn't it? Even his misses were exciting," said Falcons head coach Dave Pilipovich. "Is there any way we can get him another year? This disappointing part is that it would have been great to highlight after a win."
Colorado State led, 66-60, midway through the second half, and quickly pushed the lead to double digits, 70-60, following Green's jumper.
Air Force countered with a 7-2 swing to make it 72-67 with 6:07 to play.
Lyons' layup with 3 1/2 minutes remaining cut the Falcons' deficit to 75-72, but the Rams scored the next seven points to push the lead to 82-72 with just over one minute left.
Fletcher canned a trey before Lyons' 3-point play made it 82-78 with 44 ticks showing, but a pair of Green free throws made it a six point game moments later.
The Rams then went 5-for-8 from the line to take an 88-80 lead with 18 seconds left, but Marek Olesinski's 3-pointer made it a five-point game to keep Air Force's hopes alive.
Smith then split a pair from the free throw line before Lyons drained a deep three with just over three seconds left, but the Rams were able to avoid being fouled and dribbled off the remaining seconds.
Iverson's dunk gave Colorado State a 17-12 lead just six minutes into the game, but Lyons canned three consecutive 3-pointers to go up 21-19 two minutes later.
The Rams outscored Air Force, 14-10 over the next eight minutes to go up 34-31 before closing the half on a 14-9 surge to go into the break leading 48-40.
Game Notes
Colorado State went 26-for-34 from the free throw line ... The Rams won the rebounding battle by a 39-23 margin ... Air Force went 13-for-31 from 3-point range ... The Falcons went just 7-for-12 from the free throw line.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.