Clifford and Colorado State win 78-69 in OT against Air Force

Updated: Jan 17, 2024, 06:15 am

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- — Nique Clifford scored 17 points and Josiah Strong added five in the overtime as Colorado State defeated Air Force 78-69 on Tuesday night.

Clifford made a layup that tied it 64-all with six seconds left in regulation to force overtime. The Rams outscored Air Force 14-5 in the extra period.

Clifford added six rebounds for the Rams (14-3, 2-2 Mountain West Conference). Joel Scott scored 13 points and added seven rebounds. Isaiah Stevens was 4-of-12 shooting and 3 of 4 from the free-throw line to finish with 12 points, while adding nine assists.

The Falcons (7-9, 0-4) were led in scoring by Rytis Petraitis, who finished with 22 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Ethan Taylor added 18 points and eight rebounds for Air Force. In addition, Beau Becker finished with 18 points and seven rebounds. The loss is the seventh in a row for the Falcons.

Joe Palmer scored eight points in the first half and Colorado State went into the break trailing 27-24. Colorado State used a 7-0 second-half run to erase a six-point deficit and take the lead at 51-50 with 6:49 left in the half before finishing off the victory. Clifford scored 10 second-half points.

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