FORT COLLINS, Colo -- — Isaiah Rivera's jumper in the closing seconds lifted Colorado State past Gardner-Webb, 65-63 in the season opener Monday night.

John Tonje scored 16 points on 4 of 11 shooting (3 for 5 from 3-point range) and 5 of 8 from the free throw line for the Rams. Patrick Cartier scored 12 points while shooting 5 of 7 from the field and 1 for 4 from the line. Rivera shot 4 of 9 from the field and 3 for 4 from the line to finish with 11 points.

Julien Soumaoro finished with 12 points and two steals for the Runnin’ Bulldogs. Gardner-Webb also got 11 points from Anthony Selden. Kareem Reid also had 10 points, 10 rebounds and two steals.

Rivera scored seven points in the first half and Colorado State went into halftime trailing 36-25. Colorado State outscored Gardner-Webb by 13 points in the second half. Tonje led the way with 11 second-half points.

NEXT UP

Up next for Colorado State is a Friday matchup with SE Louisiana at home, while Gardner-Webb visits SFA on Thursday.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.