Despite another outstanding performance from star forward Orlando Robinson, the Bulldogs could not get the job done on the road Friday night, falling to Colorado State 65-50.
In front of a sold out crowd in Fort Collins against one of the Mountain West’s top teams, Fresno State jumped out to a good start, largely on the back of Robinson.
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Robinson scored the Bulldogs’ first 8 points and led the team with 16 points as the ‘Dogs took a 28-25 lead into halftime.
But the offensive woes for the rest of the players continued in the second half, and Robinson was not able to continue his hot start.
Robinson finished his night with a game-high 24 points, but no other Bulldog scored in double digits Friday evening.
Point guard Isaiah Hill was the next-highest scoring Bulldog with 7 points.
Although Fresno State won the rebounding battle by a 37-26 margin – including 12 offensive rebounds compared to the Ram’s 2 – Colorado State was simply the more efficient team.
The Rams made one-third of their three-point attempts, compared to an 18.5 percent clip for the Bulldogs.
The Rams also only had 3 turnovers all night, while forcing the ‘Dogs to give up the ball 12 times.
While Fresno State only made 35.2 percent of their shots from the field, over half of Colorado State’s shots went in.
Coming out of the locker room to start the second half, the Bulldogs gave up ground to the Rams as they lost the lead, but Fresno State was only down by three with just under 13 minutes left.
That was the last time that Fresno State was in the game. Over the next three minutes, the Rams scored 10 straight points and pushed the game out of hand.
With the loss, Fresno State dropped to 16-8 overall and 6-5 in the Mountain West, moving down to fifth place in the conference, one spot out of earning a first round bye in the conference tournament next month.
Photo: Fresno State Athletics
