Box Score PUEBLO, Colo. - No. 1 Metro State opened up the season with a victory by defeating Texas &M-Kingsville 73-44 on Friday afternoon.  The win increased the Roadrunners' record to 1-0 while the loss dropped Javelina's record to 0-2 on the season.

Metro State was led by Nicholas Kay (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) with 22 points and Brandon Jefferson (Flower Mound, Texas/Lewisville H.S.) with  18 points.  Also scoring in double figures for the Roadrunners was Jamal McClerkin (Van Nuys, Calif./Chaminade College Prep) with 10 points.

In the first half, Metro State came out strong on defense as it had 3 steals in the first four minutes of the game forcing five turnovers in that span.  Metro State used its strong defense to jump out to a 15-6 lead with 11:53 left in the first half. 

However, Texas A&M-Kingsville went on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to only four points.  The four point lead for the Roadrunners was the smallest lead they held throughout the rest of the game.  Metro State however after this point went on a 7-0 run to take control of the game and never relinquished the lead throughout the rest of the half. 

Overall for the first half, Metro State shot 44.0 percent (11-of-25) from the field including 42.9 percent (3-for-7) from behind the arc.  Metro State held Texas A&M-Kingsville to only shooting 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from the field including 11.1 percent (1-for-9) from behind the arc. 

In the second half, Metro State continued its dominance as it was able to stretch its lead to 34 points with 4:50 left in the game and never lead by less than 25 points throughout the rest of the game. 

Overall for the game, Metro State shot 43.1 percent (22-for-51) while holding Texas A&M-Kingsville to only 26.7 percent (12-for-45).  Metro State also shot 77.4 percent (24-for-31) from the charity stripe while Texas A&M-Kingsville shot only 55.2 percent (16-for-29). 

Metro State was led by Harrison Goodrick (Sydney, Australia/St. Joseph's College Hunter's Hill) with nine rebounds and Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) with eight rebounds as the Roadrunners won the battle on the glass 42-32.

Texas A&M-Kingsville was led by Rashad Basey with 11 points. 

Metro State will be back in action on Saturday when the Roadrunners face West Texas A&M at 3 p.m. in Pueblo, Colo.