DENVER - No. 14/15 Metropolitan State University of Denver cooled the hottest team in the conference and cruised to an 83-60 win over Colorado State-Pueblo on Friday evening. The Roadrunners improved to 23-4 overall and 18-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while the ThunderWolves saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end as they dropped to 19-8 and 15-6.
 
Nicholas Kay (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) had 21 points and 17 rebounds, the most rebounds for a Roadrunner since Jesse Wagstaff in 2007. Kay also had four assists and shot 7-of-9 from the floor.
 
Mitch McCarron (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) and Sam Porter (Arvada, Colo./Arvada West H.S.) each scored 14 points. McCarron also had eight rebounds and five assists. Eric Rayer (Colorado Springs/Coronado H.S.) buried 4-of-5 3-point field goals to score 12 points. DeShawn Phenix (Fort Worth, Texas/North Crowley H.S.) provided seven points and six rebounds off the bench.
 
The Roadrunners made 7-of-13 from 3-point range in the game and outrebounded CSU-Pueblo 50-to-25.
 
MSU Denver was hot in the first half, shooting 5-of-8 from the outside and 48 percent from the floor, taking a 37-23 lead into the break. Kay had 10 points and nine rebounds in the first half.
 
The Roadrunners used a 16-0 run early in the second half to build a 56-29 lead with 13:05 to go in the game. They led by as many as 30 points after halftime.
 
Jed Knafelc led the ThunderWolves with 17 points.
 
MSU Denver will host No. 18/20 University of Colorado Colorado Springs at 7 p.m. on Saturday. A win gives the Roadrunners the top seed in the RMAC tournament and a share of the regular season title.