Box Score BELLINGHAM, Wash. - No. 1 Metro State cruised to a 94-77 win over St. Martin's (Wash.) on Friday afternoon in Bellingham, Wash., at the Western Washington Classic. The Roadrunners moved to 3-0 in regular season action, while SMU fell to 0-5.
The top-ranked Roadrunners will take on No. 7 Western Washington at 7:30 p.m. (PT) on Saturday in the much-anticipated matchup of the weekend.
Brandon Jefferson (Flower Mound, Texas/Lewisville H.S.) and
Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) combined for 50 points as Jefferson dropped 28 and McCarron had 22. McCarron also had a career-high eight assists and seven rebounds. He made 12-of-15 at the free throw line, the most attempts for a Roadrunner since 2010. Jefferson made 5-of-7 3-point field goals and all five of his free throw attempts, while adding four steals.
Nicholas Kay (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) hit 10-of-10 at the line on his way to 14 points.
Will Sinclair (Lilydale, Australia/Lilydale Heights College) had 11 points and five rebounds.
Raul Delgado (Chihuahua, Mexico/Springville (Utah) H.S.) scored eight points and had four assists off the bench in his first regular –season game for Metro State.
Jamal McClerkin (Van Nuys, Calif./Chaminade College Prep) scored five.
Metro State forced 20 turnovers in the game and committed just nine, while also holding a 31-25 rebounding advantage. The Roadrunners got to the free throw line 42 times, the most attempts in a game since 2009, and made 35 (83.3 percent).
After trailing 2-0 after the game's first possession, the Roadrunners never looked back. A 10-1 run pushed the lead to 16-5 less than five minutes into the game. A 13-0 run late in the half put Metro State in front 45-25 with two minutes before half and MSU Denver took a 47-31 lead into the break behind 20 points from Jefferson.
The Roadrunners led by as many as 24 points in the second half.