Box Score Tournament Central
DENVER - No. 1 Metro State earned its 11th Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout championship, topping UC-Colorado Springs 77-71 on Saturday night at the Auraria Event Center. The Roadrunners improved to 28-1 overall with their 25th consecutive win and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Mountain Lions fell to 21-8 overall.
It is the second consecutive RMAC Shootout title for the Roadrunners. No other school has more than four total championships.
Tournament most valuable player
Nicholas Kay (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) led the Roadrunners with 22 points, nine rebounds and four steals hitting 10-of-12 at the free throw line.
Brandon Jefferson (Flower Mound, Texas/Lewisville H.S.) added 21 points and
Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) had 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Jefferson and McCarron joined Kay on the all-tournament team.
Metro State overcame a minus-10 rebounding margin by forcing 17 turnovers and committing just seven. The Roadrunners also shot 40.3 percent from the floor, while limiting the Mountain Lions to 36.2 percent.
The first half was back-and-forth the entire way with five ties and eight lead changes, while neither team led by more than six points. The Roadrunners eventually pulled ahead for a 36-33 lead at the break behind 13 points from Jefferson. Metro State forced 11 turnovers and committed just three, but was outrebounded 21-to-15 and shot just 40 percent.
While Metro State led the entire second half, it took a 10-3 run to build a 10-point lead at 71-61 with 1:44 remaining, the largest lead of the game.
The Roadrunners made 6-of-8 at the free throw line in the final minute to seal the win.
UCCS was led by Derrick White, who scored 33 points and made 18-of-18 at the line. He also led the Mountain Lions with nine points and five assists.
The NCAA tournament selection show will be at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday on NCAA.com. A watch party with the basketball team will be held at The Regency Student Housing. Snacks and water will be served and the party will begin at 8 p.m.
Metro State was ranked No. 1 in the South Central Region last week and will likely host the regional tournament for the second year in a row.
