Box Score DENVER - No. 1 Metro State held off a late Fort Lewis run, winning 77-73 to advance to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout championship game on Friday night at home. The Roadrunners improved to 27-1 overall with their 24th straight win, while FLC fell to 18-10. The 24-game winning streak is the second-longest in school history.

Metro State will face UC-Colorado Springs at 7 p.m. at the Auraria Event Center on Saturday in the championship game.

Brandon Jefferson (Flower Mound, Texas/Lewisville H.S.) hit 6-of-7 3-point field goals to score a game-high 20 points. Nicholas Kay (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) matched Jefferson with 20 points, scoring 9-of-15 shots. Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) just missed a triple-double with 12 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Jamal McClerkin (Van Nuys, Calif./Chaminade College Prep) also had 12 points, while Raul Delgado (Chihuahua, Mexico/Springville (Utah) H.S.) chipped in with seven off the bench.

For the game, both teams shot 50 percent from the floor, but MSU Denver won the turnover battle 8-to-15.

The Roadrunners' defensive pressure forced nine first-half turnovers, leading to a 38-32 halftime lead behind 10 points from Kay.

Metro State scored the first seven points of the second half for a 45-32 lead, but the Skyhawks brought their deficit back to one with 10:53 left. The Roadrunners pulled away from a 51-50 lead with eight straight points as McClerkin scored a layup and Jefferson buried back-to-back 3-pointers.

Kay slammed a two-handed dunk on a fastbreak to give Metro State a 70-58 lead with 4:09 remaining as the Roadrunners continued to pull away.

However, FLC was not done. Fort Lewis pulled within three points with less than two minutes left. But Jefferson had the answer, drilling a 3-pointer with 1:06 to go, his sixth 3-point field goal of the game.

Alex Herrera led the Skyhawks with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Nick Tomsick scored all 17 of his points in the second half.