FORT COLLINS, Colo. – Lamont Butler scored a team-high 19 points and Micah Parrish was perfect from the field as the Aztecs earned an 82-76 overtime win at Colorado State on Wednesday evening. Colorado State tied the game with five seconds left in regulation before the Aztecs took control in overtime to earn the win.
SDSU (14-4, 5-1 MW) would set the tone early in overtime when Matt Bradley sank two foul shots and then the Aztecs made back-to-back threes. Parrish nailed his third of the game and Butler sank his second of the game to give San Diego State a 75-70 lead with two minutes to play. Then with 39 seconds to play Bradley iced the game with another from bonus distance to give the Aztecs an 80-73 lead and eventually their fifth conference win of the year.
Earlier on it was Colorado State (10-10, 2-5 MW) who jumped out to a 9-2 lead early on, before the Aztecs settled into the game courtesy of a Butler triple. Later in the half Jaedon Ledee threw down a monster dunk courtesy of a pass from Darrion Trammell, before Parrish picked off a pass and went the other way with it for another dunk, making it a 19-17 Colorado State lead with 11:23 left in the first half.
The Aztecs would take the lead with just over four minutes remaining in the half when Ledee scooped up a loose ball in the paint and dunked it home to give San Diego State a 26-25 lead with 4:22 left in the half. However, it was the Rams who would close the half strong and took a 34-28 lead into the halftime break.
Both teams opened the second half with multiple defensive stops, with the score 37-30 Colorado State with 15 minutes to play. Then the Aztecs defense continued to make plays. On back-to-back possessions the Aztecs picked off passes leading to an Adam Seiko triple and another Parish dunk to cut the deficit to three, 40-37 with 13:59 left in the game.
A few minutes later Parrish drilled a three to give the Aztecs their second lead of the game, 44-43. The teams would trade buckets for the next few minutes as the Rams took a 54-53 lead with six minutes to go.
Parrish would make his basket of the game a few minutes later, this one a triple and the foul to tie the game at 56-56. He then made the following free-throw to give the Aztecs a 57-56 advantage with 4:59 remaining. Matt Bradley scored on a tough drive to the hoop with 2:59 to go to make it a 59-56 lead for SDSU.
The squads would trade baskets down the stretch and the Rams tied the game with five seconds left to force the game to overtime with the score tied at 65-65. The Aztecs then ran out 82-76 winners in overtime.
Up Next: The Aztecs hit the road again on Saturday to play at Air Force at 8 p.m. MT.
Aztecs Rally, Beat Colorado State in OT 82-76
