Just when this series has grown consistently interesting, it makes its Clune Arena exit.

Colorado State escaped the Air Force Academy and hot-handed Milahnie Perry with a 65-63 victory over the Falcons on Wednesday night in a game played without spectators because of a water main break that also canceled classes at the academy.

“I understand the game was streamed (online), but it’s a shame people didn’t see that in person,” Air Force coach Stacy McIntyre said specifically of Perry’s 31 points. She hit 12-of-21 shots (including 3 of 4 from 3) and passed Kaelin Immel for fifth place on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,537 points.

The teams will play again in the regular-season finale in Fort Collins on Feb. 28, but fans missed out on the opportunity to see the final Colorado Springs portion of the series before the Rams depart for the Pac-12 while Air Force stays in the Mountain West.

And it had just gotten so good.

When the Falcons moved to Division I in 1996-97 they lost their first 19 meetings with the Rams. That was followed shortly after by a 1-19 stretch.

But since Air Force broke through with a 63-48 win Jan. 9, 2019, it has gone 9-7 against their in-state conference rival with multiple tight games in that mix.

Wednesday brought another.

Perry, guarded primarily by Indiana transfer Lexus Bargesser (whose defensive assignments included the likes of Caitlin Clark and JuJu Watkins while with the Hoosiers), scored Air Force’s first 13 points.

“I try to have the same mindset in every game,” said Perry, who is 77 points shy of Riley Snyder’s program record for scoring since moving to D1. “I started out hot and just tried to keep that going throughout all four quarters.”

The Rams kept making runs, moving ahead by eight points in the second quarter and 12 points in the third quarter, but each time the Falcons closed to within a possession.

Bargesser led the Rams (14-4, 5-2 Mountain West) with 19 points, while Kloe Froebe added 17 and Madelyn Bragg 12.

Air Force (8-9, 2-5) struggled to find the same kind of scoring balance. Senior Emily Adams complemented Perry with eight points in the first half and the seniors combined for 26 of the team’s 28 first-half points. But Adams went scoreless in the second half.

Junior Keelie O’Hollaren, scoreless in the first half, scored all of her 16 points after the break and combined with Perry for 29 of the team’s 35 points over the final 20 minutes.

O’Hollaren’s three free throws with 2:35 remaining brought the Falcons within three points. Jayda McNabb’s 3-pointer on the next possession brought it to 57-56.

But the Rams kept pushing it to multiple possessions, and they needed every bit of it as O’Hollaren and Alexis Cortez each hit 3-pointers in the final 13 seconds that pulled the Falcons within one basket of the tie or lead.

Colorado State led 17-12 in forced turnovers, building a 19-10 edge in points off turnovers that was critical in a game where Air Force outshot the visitors 48%-45% and outrebounded them 29-27.

It was competitive until Air Force’s final in-bound play with 0.4 seconds remaining, as these games so often have been.

McIntyre didn’t know when the Rams might be back to Clune Arena — presumably with fans allowed to attend.

“TBD. I think we haven’t gotten that far,” she said. “We have a great relationship with their coaching staff. … Certainly something that will be on the table for discussion.”