FORT COLLINS — Jalen Lake hit a 3-pointer with three seconds left to break a 72-72 tie and give Colorado State a 75-72 victory over Boise State on Wednesday night at Moby Arena. Colorado State won for the eighth time in 10 home appearances this season, but it wasn’t without some late drama. The Rams squandered a 17-point second-half lead, and the game came down to a CSU possession and the game tied with 34 seconds on the clock. CSU methodically let the clock run down, and Nique Clifford attacked the rim with the shot clock at about five. His layup didn’t fall, but Jaylen Crocker-Johnson got the rebound and kicked the ball out to Lake, who knocked down the 3-pointer for the win after Boise State’s buzzer-beater attempt to tie the game again was no good. CSU improved to 12-7 overall and 6-2 in the Mountain West Conference. Boise State dropped to 13-7 and 5-4. “High-level college basketball game tonight,” CSU head coach Niko Medved said. “I thought it was a great game, a game of runs. You knew Boise would make a run. We were teetering there at the end, but our guys showed a lot of poise and had the will to just make one more play than they did.” CSU took a 38-29 lead into the second half and spent the early part of the final period extending the lead it had built at the end of the first half. A layup by Kyle Jorgensen gave the Rams a 17-point lead at 56-39 with 12:29 left in the game. It was their largest lead of the contest, but the Broncos had one last run in them. Led by Tyson Degenhart, Boise State turned almost a 20-point deficit into a lead in the closing minutes. With 3:37 remaining, the Broncos cut the CSU lead to three points at 65-62 on a layup by Degenhart. A 3-pointer by Kyan Evans stopped the Boise State run and gave the Rams a 68-62 lead, but the Broncos didn’t go away, making it a three-point game again at 70-67 on a three-point play by Degenhart. Colorado State’s Kyan Evans passes the ball against Boise State on Wednesday at Moby Arena in Fort Collins. (Nathan Wright/Loveland Reporter-Herald) A pair of CSU turnovers led to two more baskets for the Broncos, and Boise took its first lead since the first half on a 3-pointer by Degenhart with 1:09 left, 72-70. A layup by Clifford tied the game at 72 with 50 seconds left. Degenhart, who had a game-high 27 points, missed a 3-pointer and the Rams were able to get the rebound and set up the final play that eventually resulted in Lake making the game-winner. “Shout out to Crock for that big offensive rebound,” Lake said. “Then just him being able to find me, and I’m just able to step up and knock it down. Honestly, after that, I just kind of blacked out. I was of worried about getting back on defense and making sure they didn’t get one up.” With Rashaan Mbemba out with an illness, Nikola Djapa got the start and immediately went to work, scoring the first four points of the game for CSU on a dunk and a layup. Behind Njapa’s two quick baskets, CSU jumped out to a 6-0 lead before the Broncos scored their first points of the game on a jumper by Alvaro Cardenas. CSU took its largest lead of the first half at 36-26 on a free throw by Lake with 2:36 left before the break. Boise State cut the Rams’ lead to seven on a 3-pointer by Cardenas, but a pair of free throws by Kyan Evans with 1:28 remaining made it a nine-point advantage and the Rams took a 38-29 lead into the break. Then in the second half, the Broncos made their run before the Rams were able to win it in the final seconds. Related Articles College Sports | Rashaan Mbemba elevating his game in second season with CSU Rams College Sports | CSU Rams men’s basketball rallies past Nevada in Mountain West opener College Sports | CSU Rams end nonconference play with win over Radford College Sports | CU Buffs smash CSU Rams in Rocky Mountain Showdown: “It feels good to beat them” College Sports | CSU Rams suffer first home defeat in overtime loss to UC Riverside “We weren’t able to withstand their (second-half) run at times,” Clifford said. “We gave them too many easy baskets. We just had to be more disciplined. They came back, but we hung in there and made plays at the end of the game, which was critical. “Earlier in the year, I don’t know if we would have won that game.” Clifford led the Rams with 20 points. Evans and Lake each had 13. CSU will be back in action Saturday on the road at Fresno State. Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver’s teams.