NCAA News Wire
Colorado State 66, Air Force 53
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry (print and digital media). A freelance writer/stay-at-home dad since 2008, Hawkins started his career with newspaper stints in Michigan, North Carolina, Florida, Upstate New York and Illinois, where he earned the 2004 APSE first-place award for column writing (under 40,000 circulation). As a beat writer, he covered NASCAR Winston Cup events at NHIS (1999-2003), the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks (2003-06) and the NFL's Carolina Panthers (2011-12). Hawkins penned four youth sports books, including a Michael Jordan biography. Hawkins' main hobbies include mountain bike riding, 5k trail runs at the Whitewater Center in Charlotte, N.C., and live music.
All posts by Jeff HawkinsUpdated15 Oct 2021
Colorado State’s senior tandem of guard Daniel Bejarano and forward J.J. Avila combined for 38 points in the Rams’ 66-53 victory over Air Force on Saturday in a Mountain West Conference game in Fort Collins, Colo.
Bejarano and Avila teamed up to make 14 of 23 shots from the field for Colorado State (23-5, 10-5 MWC). Bejarano, who had a game-high 20 points, was 5 of 6 from 3-point range and Avila was 1 of 2.
The duo each had seven rebounds for the Rams, who outrebounded the Falcons 38-26.
Air Force (12-14, 5-10) had only one scorer in double digits. Senior forward Marek Olesinski finished with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field. Sophomore guard Zach Kocur led the Falcons in rebounding with seven.
A 15-3 run midway through the first half put Colorado State ahead 28-14 and Air Force did not come closer than seven points again. Avila had seven points and Bejarano five in the game-changing spurt.
Olesinski made a 3-pointer and freshman guard Trevor Lyons converted a layup to cut Colorado State’s lead to 39-32 with 17:01 left in regulation. The Rams then went on a 9-0 run that included a 3-pointer by Bejarano and a basket and assist by junior forward Tiel Daniels, who led the Rams with eight rebounds.
Colorado State, which has won four of its last five games, swept the regular-season series from its in-state rival.
