COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - Metro State's men's basketball team wrapped up its fifth Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title on Saturday, defeating UC-Colorado Springs 86-76 in Colorado Springs. The win gave the Roadrunners a 24-3 overall regular season record and its second-best RMAC record ever at 18-1. UCCS dropped to 10-17 overall and 10-9 in the RMAC. Metro State has never lost to UCCS in 33 games all-time.
Jesse Wagstaff led the Roadrunners with his 13th career double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds to lead both teams in both categories. Marquise Carrington poured in 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting with eight steals and five assists. His eight steals were a career high and just two shy of the school record for a single game. Brian Minor and Nelson Ekeh each scored 11 off the bench.
Frank McCollum led UCCS with 18 points, hitting 7-of-10 from the field.
The Roadrunners converted 46.9 percent from the field, but just 4-of-15 (.267) from the outside. They also hit 22-of-36 (.611) from the line. Metro State forced 31 turnovers off 22 steals, just two short of the school record of 24 steals in a game. However, the Roadrunners were out-rebounded 44-29 and allowed UCCS to shoot 47.2 percent for the game.
Metro State struggled to shoot the ball in the first half, hitting just 14-of-36 (.389) from the field, including 2-of-9 (.222) from the outside, and 5-of-14 (.357) from the line. However, the Roadrunners forced 13 steals and 17 turnovers to trail 38-35 at the half.
Tied at 49-49 with 14 minutes left, Metro State went on a 13-2 run over the next five minutes, capped by a 3-pointer by Minor, to take a 62-51 lead with 9:36 left in the game.
The Mountain Lions cut the lead to four at 68-64 with 5:59 left to play. But the Roadrunners scored eight of the next nine points to take a 76-65 lead with four minutes left. UCCS answered with seven-straight points to cut the lead back to four at 76-72 with just under three minutes remaining.
Ekeh came back with a layup and Wagstaff hit 1-of-2 free throws to give Metro State a 79-72 lead with 2:13 left. Levi Harris hit the first of two free throws for UCCS, but the Mountain Lions got the offensive rebound off his miss on his second attempt, allowing Frank McCollum to hit a 3-pointer with 1:58 left to cut Metro State's lead to three at 79-76.
Wagstaff converted a 3-point play on the other end for the Roadrunners as Metro State hit 5-of-5 from the free throw line in the final 1:34 to seal the victory. Wagstaff rebounded two UCCS misses in the final minute to secure his double-double.
The Roadrunners will host a first round RMAC Shootout game as the top seed on Tuesday, March 3 at 7 p.m. The opponent has not yet been determined as a couple deciding RMAC games went late on Saturday evening.
