DENVER - Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) and Nicholas Kay (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) combined for 52 points to lead No. 17 Metropolitan State University of Denver to a wild 84-80 win over Adams State on Friday night at the Auraria Event Center. The Roadrunners improved to 13-3 overall and 8-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. ASU dropped to 8-5 and 4-5.
 
Leading by 10 points with under two minutes remaining, MSU Denver committed four straight turnovers as the Grizzlies got within two points with 45.5 seconds left. After the Roadrunners missed a shot, Shakir Smith had an open layup on the ensuing fastbreak to tie the game, but missed the shot with 10 seconds left. The Roadrunners hung on as McCarron and Kay combined to hit all four of their free throw attempts in the final 8.7 seconds.
 
McCarron finished with 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, narrowly missing the third triple-double in school history and first since 1993. He shot 8-of-13 from the floor. Kay had 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting and grabbed five rebounds. DeShawn Phenix (Fort Worth, Texas/North Crowley H.S.) provided 10 points off the bench and Eric Rayer (Colorado Springs/Coronado H.S.) added nine, burying a pair of 3-pointers.
 
The Roadrunners used an 18-6 run midway through the first half to build a 34-27 lead on a 3-pointer by Eric Rayer (Colorado Springs/Coronado H.S.). They went into halftime with a 43-41 lead behind an excellent half from McCarron, who had 15 points, five assists and four rebounds. Kay added 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first half.
 
Both teams were extremely efficient in the first half offensively. The Roadrunners shot 68.2 percent and committed just three turnovers. ASU shot 60 percent and had just four turnovers.
 
MSU Denver went on a 15-4 run early in the second half and built its lead up to 13 points, leading by double digits for much of the half.
 
The Roadrunners saw their 10-point lead shrink to two points at 80-78 with 45.5 seconds remaining in a span of 34 seconds after four consecutive turnovers. Smith's missed layup came after a fifth-straight scoreless possession for MSU Denver and Kay sunk two free throws with 8.7 seconds left and McCarron did so with 1.9 seconds to go to secure the win.
 
ASU's Juwan Buchanan had a game-high 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting and added four steals.
 
The Roadrunners will host Fort Lewis at 7 p.m. on Saturday.