Box Score DENVER - No. 5 Metro State won the fight for the top spot in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with a 75-86 win over No. 11 Colorado School of Mines on Saturday, in front of a record-high 2,114 fans at Auraria Event Center.
Brandon Jefferson (Flower Mound, Texas/Lewisville H.S.) led all scorers with 32 points and set a school record hitting 19-of-20 from the free-throw line. The Roadrunners improved to 11-1 overall and 8-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while the Orediggers dropped to12-1 and 8-1.
The first half was about converting every opportunity into points. The Roadrunners outrebounded the Orediggers 20-16, scored four points off of the fast-break and 10 points from second-chance opportunities, and shooting 88.9 percent from the free throw line.
Jefferson, who didn't score in the first 10 minutes of the game, led all scorers the first half with 17, converting a 3-point shot into six points hitting, a free-throw and two more with a technical on Orediggers' bench. The Roadrunners ended the first half leading 45-36.
On offense, the Roadrunners were 24-54 (44.4 percent) for field goals, 5-17 (29.4 percent) from the arc, and 33-37 (91.7 percent) from the line for the game.
Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) had 20 points and
Nicholas Kay (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) had nine. The Roadrunners' bench contributed 17 points for the game.
The Roadrunners defense caused 16 Orediggers turnovers while committing 12. Jefferson, McCarron, along with
Jamal McClerkin (Van Nuys, Calif./Chaminade College Prep) and
Raul Delgado (Chihuahua, Mexico/Springville (Utah) H.S.), each had two steals, while Kay,
Will Sinclair (Lilydale, Australia/Lilydale Heights College), and
Obi Kyei (Sydney, Australia/Sydney Secondary College) each had one. McCarron led the Roadrunners with nine rebounds, while Jefferson had five.
It was a physical game defensively, sending players to the line 62 times. Gokul Natesan left the game with five fouls for the Orediggers with 5:34 left in the game, while the Roadrunners'
Will Sinclair (Lilydale, Australia/Lilydale Heights College) headed to the bench with 5:18 left in the game.
Orediggers' Luke Meisch led his team with 27 points, while Trevor Wages had 13, and Brett Green had 12.
The Roadrunners will travel to Adams State University Jan. 17 and to Fort Lewis College Jan. 18.
