Colorado College didn't travel far to record one of the biggest victories in the program's Division III history, but the Tigers' seniors have come a long way since starting their careers with 24 consecutive losses.
Nick Rose, Brady Ohlsen and Colin Madden combined for 37 points as the Tigers wiped out an eight-point deficit during the final five minutes of regulation and went on to defeat Air Force, 60-57 in overtime, on Wednesday night at Clune Arena.
Freshman point guard Ryan Milne gave the Tigers a 57-55 lead with 2:28 remaining in the extra session and CC made three of six free throws during the final 1:15 to seal the victory.
Rose finished with a game-high 18 points to lead Colorado College, two of which came on free throws during the final 1:15 of overtime. His steal in the closing seconds put the game away.
Ohlsen added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds, while Madden drained a three-point shot with 2:59 to play in the second half that tied the score at 51-51. Ohlsen gave the Tigers a two-point lead 45 seconds later, but the Falcons' Taylor Broekhuis drained a pair of free throws with 1:15 to go to send the game to overtime.
Ian Rewoldt made a huge impact in his first career start. The sophomore forward pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds and added seven points, including the first two in overtime.
The Tigers snapped an eight-game losing streak against Air Force, the last of which was an 82-31 drubbing during head coach Andy Partee's first season at CC. The Tigers scored just six points during the first half of that game.
When Colorado College took a 7-4 lead at the first media timeout during tonight's game, there already was a sense that the Tigers would not get run out of the arena this time.
The Falcons took their first lead on a jumper by Taylor Stewart 7:35 into the game, and led 15-12 after Tom Fow scored two of his team-high 17 points on a pair of free throws midway through the first half.
Colorado College took a 27-21 lead when Jeff Smith buried a three-pointer with 2:13 to play in the first half, but Air Force scored the final six points to draw even after 20 minutes.
The Falcons took a 30-29 lead on Fow's three pointer 22 seconds into the second half and led by as many as five points before going on a 7-1 run to open a 49-41 advantage with 6:42 to play.
Air Force led 51-43 on Fow's dunk with 5:56 to go, but missed its next five shots and turned the ball over once as the Tigers used a 10-0 run to regain the lead.
Colorado College returns to action on Saturday afternoon against Lewis & Clark College.
