Rodney Pierce scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Buffalo rode a small-ball lineup to upend Colorado State, 67-53, and take the 45th Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic championship last night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Andy Robinson finished with 13 points and six rebounds and Greg Gamble added 11 points, four rebounds and two assists for the Bulls (8-4).

Marcus Walker, the only CSU player to score in double figures, finished with 12 points but shot just 3-of-13 from the field (2-for-9 from 3-point range). Andre McFarland and Jesse Carr each added nine points for the Rams (5-9).

To Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon, winning the championship was an affirmation of everything his in-progress team has been working toward this year.

"We learned about ourselves on this trip," Witherspoon said. "Sometimes when you're going through a process of trying to build something, you get lumped up doing it and you lose a bit of your faith. We restored that a little bit."

After a seesaw first half that ended in a 34-34 tie, the Bulls took their first lead of the game on a dunk by Titus Robinson in the opening seconds of the second. CSU's Dan Vandervieren answered with a dunk, but the Rams, who led by as many as 11 in the first half, would not catch the Bulls again.

After getting torched by CSU's outside shooters in the first period, the Bulls went with a smaller, faster lineup that allowed them to apply greater defensive pressure and consistently beat CSU to loose balls.

Despite giving up size in the paint, the Bulls outrebounded CSU 24-15 in the second half.

Buffalo also took great care of the ball, turning over the ball just four times in the game, and not at all in the second half.

Andy Robinson, who entered the game shooting just 25 percent from beyond the arc, hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night to spark a 14-3 run that gave Buffalo a commanding 63-49 lead with 1:46 to play.

Pierce added four consecutive free throws down the stretch.

"They came out and outquicked us for a while and got out to an early spurt, so we decided to go small," Witherspoon said. "We've made that adjustment in the past and fortunately enough we had enough poise and versatility to pull it off."

The Rams jumped to an 11-2 lead behind the precision shooting of McFarland and Willis Gardner. Buffalo responded with a grittier effort on the offensive boards, reeling off an 11-2 run. Max Boudreau's hook shot in the paint tied the score at 15.

The yo-yo action continued as CSU got hot from outside. Jesse Carr connected on a pair of 3-pointers and Walker and McFarland also hit from beyond the arc as the Rams built a 34-25 lead.

Buffalo responded again. Jawaan Alston's one-hand putback sparked a 9-0 run that tied it, 34-34, at the half.

CSU connected on 8-of-15 from 3-point range, but did not take a free throw in the half.