PUEBLO, Colo. - No. 11 Metro State's Jesse Wagstaff scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half to lead the Roadrunners to a 76-65 victory over Colorado State-Pueblo on Friday in the semifinals of the RMAC Shootout in Pueblo. Metro State is now 26-3 overall this season, while CSUP ended the year at 15-14. The Roadrunners will play in the championship tomorrow evening at 8 p.m. The game will be televised LIVE on Altitude Sports Entertainment in Colorado.

Wagstaff sat out much of the first half in foul trouble, but hit 11-of-15 free throws and led the Roadrunners with 22 points in the game. Marquise Carrington scored 16, hitting 5-of-8 from the floor. Wagstaff and Carrington each had four steals as Metro State had 15 in the game. Nelson Ekeh tied a career-high with 14 points, connecting on 4-of-6 from the field and 6-of-7 from the line. He also had seven rebounds and blocked two shots. Donte Nicholas chipped in with 10 points.

Rome Smith led CSU-Pueblo with 24 points and 12 rebounds in his final game in a Thunderwolves uniform. Roman Van Allen added 11 poitns off the bench, hitting 3-of-6 beyond the arc.

The first half was back-and-forth the entire way, with neither team leading by more than four points at any time and seven lead changes. Metro State led by four at 11-7 following a layup by Chris Robinson with 13:39 left. The Thunderwolves scored the next eight points to take a 15-11 lead with 11 minutes to go in the first half.

CSU-Pueblo held on to a four-point lead with 6:05 left at 24-20 following a pair of free throws by Daniel Pierce. But Metro State answered with eight consecutive points, started by a thunderous dunk by Nelson Ekeh on a fastbreak on a feed from Reggie Evans, who made the pass from his back. Carrington then proceeded to get hot, hitting 3-pointers on two of the next four possessions.

Following Evans' jumper with 1:17 to put Metro State ahead 32-28, both teams went scoreless in the final minute. CSUP's Smith led all players with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the first half. Carrington had eight points in the opening period to lead the Roadrunners. They shot 40 percent from the floor, but just 1-of-5 from the free throw line. The Thunderwolves hit on 47.1 percent from the floor in the first half, including 4-of-7 from the outside.

Wagstaff picked up his third foul just 45 seconds into the second half and came out of the game, allowing CSU-Pueblo to tie the score at 33-33 with 17:39 remaining in the second half. But Metro State quickly put Wagstaff back into the game and the Roadrunners built a 10-point lead at 47-37, forcing turnovers on four of five CSUP possessions.

The Roadrunners led by 14 at 54-40 with nine minutes left following a 3-point play by Wagstaff.

CSUP's Smith scored on a layup with 5:22 remaining to cut Metro State's lead to seven at 58-51, but Wagstaff answered with a runner from the right elbow. On the ensuing possession, Smith scored again, hitting a jumper in the paint to keep the Thunderwolves at a 7-point deficit.

Smith scored all nine of Pueblo's points inside of five minutes, until Roman Van Allen hit his third 3-pointer of the evening with 46 seconds left , helping the Thunderwolves cut the lead to six with under three minutes remaining.

Metro State hit 14-of-16 free throws in the final four minutes, scoring 14 of its final 16 points at the line to seal the 11-point victory. The Roadrunners shot 47.6 percent from the floor and hit 23-of-29 free throws in the second half. They also owned a 16-to-12 rebounding edge, including six offensive rebounds that they turned into nine points.

For the game, Metro State out-rebounded CSU-Pueblo 35-28, the first time it has out-rebounded its opponent in five games. The Roadrunners shot 42.9 percent from the floor, despite allowing the Thunderwolves to hit at a 50.0 percent clip, including 9-of-19 from the outside. Metro State also forced 24 turnovers, the third straight game it has forced at least 20.

The Roadrunners will play in the RMAC Shootout championship game on Saturday at 8 p.m. against the winner of Fort Lewis and Colorado Christian, once again at the Colorado State Fair Events Center in Pueblo.