FORT SMITH, Ark. – MSU Denver fell victim to another long scoring drought, this time in the first half, and suffered an 83-66 defeat Sunday to Arkansas-Fort Smith.
 
UAFS scored the first 13 points of a 24-6 run starting at the 13:41 mark of the first half and turned a 9-9 tie into a 33-15 advantage. MSU Denver never fully recovered.
 
The Roadrunners, who had a big run against them in the second half of a Saturday loss to 24^th-ranked Tarleton State (Texas) on the first day of the Coca-Cola Conference Challenge, dropped to 0-2.
 
"Give credit to Arkansas-Fort Smith," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Michael Bahl said. "They outplayed us tonight. I felt we showed a ton of fight the last 10 minutes of the game to battle and compete, but unfortunately this is a 40-minute game.
 
"The good news is that this is a long season and we have the opportunity to change our current circumstances."
 
Druce Asah had 12 points and three steals, Maris Colton had 12 points and four rebounds, Mitch Lombard had 10 points and five assists, and Kendall McIntosh had 10 points and five rebounds for MSU Denver, which is off until a Nov. 20 home game with Northern New Mexico.
 
Arkansas-Fort Smith (2-0) shot 48.2 percent from the field for the game, including 65 percent (13 of 20) in the second half, much of which came against a Roadrunners press that also produced 12 turnovers.
 
After shooting just 22.2 percent from the field in the first half (6 of 27), including 1 of 12 from 3, MSU Denver shot 39.0 percent in the second half, and 25.0 percent from 3 to finish at 32.4 overall and 18.8 from 3.