Box Score Quickie Quotes (PDF)

DENVER - No. 6 Metro State rallied for a 94-92 win over Colorado State-Pueblo on Saturday in Denver behind 23 points from Brandon Jefferson (Flower Mound, Texas/Lewisville H.S.). The Roadrunners moved to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with the win, while CSUP fell to 5-3 and 3-1.

Metro State trailed by one point with 10 minutes left and outscored the ThunderWolves 23-12 over the next seven minutes to build a 10-point lead.

Jefferson made 3-of-5 from the outside and all six of his free throw attempts, helping the Roadrunners go 27-of-29 (.931) at the line in the game. Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) hit 12-of-13 free throw attempts to score 20 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds for a double-double. Nicholas Kay (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) scored 18 points and had eight rebounds.

Raul Delgado (Chihuahua, Mexico/Springville (Utah) H.S.) hit three 3-pointers and scored a season-high 15 points and sophomore Jourdon Hunter (Denver, Colo./Kennedy H.S.) provided nine points off the bench.

Metro State got off to a 10-2 lead in the game. Trailing 26-17, the ThunderWolves went on a 12-3 run to tie the game 29-29 at the 5:12 mark. The half was back-and-forth the rest of the way and a 35-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer by CSUP's Julian Caldwell sent the two teams into the locker room knotted at 45-45. The Roadrunners shot just 31.4 percent, but hit 19-of-20 at the free throw line in a first half that saw 32 total fouls called.

The ThunderWolves took their only lead of the game at 66-65 with 10:04 left. The Roadrunners quickly regained the lead and led by seven at 77-70 after back-to-back 3-point plays by Kay with 6:05 to go.

The Roadrunners built their lead to 10 points at 88-78 with 2:48 left on a jumper by Jefferson. The ThunderWolves cut the lead to 92-91 with 47.4 seconds left on a 3-pointer by Dylan Fritsch. With 13.4 seconds left, McCarron tipped in a missed jumper by Jefferson to push the lead back to 94-91.

Fritsch made 1-of-2 free throws with 3.4 seconds left. CSUP rebounded the miss and drew a foul with 0.4 seconds left. Nate Tigner then missed the first attempt and was called for a lane violation on the second. Metro State inbounded the ball deep to end the game.

Metro State shot 44.6 percent in the game, including 60 percent in the second half. The Roadrunners also won the turnover battle 11-to-17 and outrebounded CSUP 37-to-35.

Fritsch scored 23 points to lead the ThunderWolves, making 7-of-8 from 3-point range. CSUP shot 52.8 percent from the floor and 13-of-25 (.520) from the outside.

Metro State will play at Black Hills State on Friday.