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morse
Justin Edmonds
Jonathan Morse finishes a dunk and draws a foul in the last minute.

Men's Basketball by Ethan Still and Andy Schlichting

Men's basketball: Balanced scoring earns Metro State NCAA tournament win

Box Score DENVER - No. 3 Metro State defeated Tarleton State 76-65 on Saturday in the first round of the NCAA South Central Regional Tournament.  The win increased the Roadrunners' record to 28-2 overall on the season.  The loss dropped the Texans to 20-10 on the season as their season ended with the loss. MSU Denver earned the No. 1 seed and TSU was the No. 8 seed.

Metro State was led by a balanced scoring effort as the starting lineup scored 74 of the 76 points with all five players scoring in double figures.  Nicholas Kay (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) led the way with 19 points while Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) and Demetrius Miller (Flint, Mich./Flint Central H.S.) both scored 16.  Jonathan Morse (Boulder, Colo./Fairview H.S.) added 13 points while Brandon Jefferson (Flower Mound, Texas/Lewisville H.S.) added the final 10 points from the starters.  Derrick January (Long Beach, Calif./Dominguez H.S.) scored the only other two points for the Roadrunners off the bench.

In the first half, Metro State went on a 15-2 run over four minutes to take a 34-19 lead after back-to-back 3-pointers by Jefferson and McCarron. The Roadrunners took a 34-23 lead into halftime after hitting 4-of-7 from the outside.

In the second half, MSU Denver extended its lead to a game-high 20 points at 51-31 with 10 minutes left. The Texans did not go away, cutting the lead to as few as seven points with 1:50 to go after a 3-pointer.

A 3-point play on a dunk and foul by Morse sealed the game for the Roadrunners, putting them ahead 73-61 with 49 seconds left.

Overall for the game, Metro State shot 54 percent on 27-of-50 shooting including going 7-for-14 (50 percent) from behind the arc.  The Roadrunners held the Texans to 38.7 percent shooting on 24-of-62 shooting.

Chuck Guy scored a game-high 29 points on 10-of-18 shooting for the Texans.

Metro State the No. 1 seed in the South Central Regional Tournament will host the winner of Midwestern State (Texas) and Newman (Kan.) at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.  In the first game, Fort Lewis will play St. Mary's (Texas) at 5 p.m.
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