Nov. 29, 2000

By Kelly Lyell
The Coloradoan

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The Colorado State University men's basketball team didn't have a lot of time to enjoy its 73-46 victory Tuesday night over Sacramento State.

The Rams were scheduled to leave Fort Collins at 5:45 a.m. today to travel to Hartford, Conn., where they will participate in the Phoenix Classic on Thursday and Friday.

The Rams face Yale at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, then face either Central Connecticut State or host Hartford on Friday.

"It's going to be a short night, but I think this game was really good for us," said CSU sophomore Brian Greene, who scored 12 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Tuesday night. "We have a pretty tough road trip ahead of us, against some pretty tough and pretty physical teams."

CSU coach Dale Layer said he would have preferred to have played another game last week to avoid the current stretch of four games in seven days that began Saturday in Spokane, Wash., but had few alternatives left after Arizona State and Michigan backed out of commitments to play games at Moby this season.

n HOT SHOTS - The Rams matched their season average in shooting percentage by hitting 61.0 percent of their shots. CSU shot a school-record 69.2 percent from the floor in a 101-58 win over Southern Oregon in the season opener and shot 52.9 percent Saturday in a 78-64 road win over Washington State.

Those percentages include a 37.1 percent effort so far this season from 3-point range, where the Rams led the nation a year ago by making 44.0 percent.

n QUICK START - The Rams are 3-0 for the first time since the 1995-96 team opened with wins over Montana Tech, Arkansas State and Northeast Louisiana. The streak ended in Game 4 with a 68-56 home loss to Weber State.

n NO RECORD YET - Senior John Sivesind, who needs two 3-pointers to tie the CSU career record of 154, failed to make a 3-pointer in back-to-back games for the first time since the second and third games of last season against St. Bonaventure and Pepperdine.

Sivesind was 0 for 2 from 3-point range while scoring 12 points against Washington State. Against Sacramento State, he missed his only 3-point try and finished with a season-low five points.

n ON THE BOARDS - The Rams have outrebounded their opponents by an average of 17 a game. CSU pulled down 47 rebounds to Sac State's 24. The Rams outrebounded Southern Oregon 40-26 and Washington State 39-25.

n MAKEUP PLAYS - CSU players followed up two of their biggest blunders midway through the second half with key plays to atone for their errors.

Backup point guard Jonathan Sanders dribbled the ball off his leg near halfcourt to cause a turnover, then was quick enough to get down under the Sac State basket to draw a charge when Hornets' guard Rame Batta tried to convert the turnover into a layup with 10:34 remaining.

A minute later, CSU guard Andy Birley slipped and lost the ball after crossing the halfcourt line. But Sac State's Pablo Gonzales missed a 3-pointer at the other end, and Birley sank one with 9:11 left to give the Rams a 67-31 lead.

n COLORADO TIES - Sac State coach Jerome Jenkins played collegiately and began his coaching career at Denver's Regis University. Jenkins, like Layer, was an assistant for his current team last season.

Jankins was named interim coach at Sac State following the resignation last spring of Tom Abatemarco, a former University of Colorado assistant, following a 9-18 season.

n NEXT UP - The Rams open the Phoenix Classic in Hartford with a 4:30 p.m game Thursday against Yale (1-2) at the Hartford Civic Center. The winner will meet the winner of the Central Connecticut-Hartford game for the title at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The losers of the first-round games will play for third place at 4:30 p.m. Friday.