DENVER – Laolu Oke's starring role off the bench Friday night may have surprised a lot of people.
 
But none of those people have been watching the redshirt freshman every day in practice.
 
Oke, who had previously played only 16 minutes all season, came off the bench to score 12 points on 6 of 6 shooting, while grabbing seven rebounds and blocking two shots to help MSU Denver to an 82-50 victory over Eastern New Mexico.
 
"That wasn't something that just came out of the blue," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Michael Bahl said. "We've seen that the past year and a half. He's prepared himself mentally and physically for this moment.
 
"Last year was a hard year for him redshirting and not being able to play and contribute. But he made tremendous strides mentally and physically."
 
When Kendall McIntosh, who had been tied for second on the team in scoring (10.3 points per game) and first in rebounds (7.0) got into early foul trouble, the Roadrunners turned to the 6-foot-7 Oke.
 
"I went into the game thinking, there can't be any dropoff," Oke said. "I had to go in and do the job.
 
"Whatever minutes I get, I just try to play as hard as I can. Whenever my number gets called, I'm going to be ready."
 
Said Bahl: "When he came in, he did was he was supposed to do. He didn't do anything crazy. He made layups, he blocked shots and he rebounded. That's what we expect from him. When his opportunity came, he made the most of it."
 
Oke's breakout night was part of a breakout win for the Roadrunners (2-2).
 
Though Eastern New Mexico is winless at 0-4, the Greyhounds had previously played two strong Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams close, losing by five at undefeated Fort Lewis and by four in overtime at undefeated New Mexico Highlands.
 
Their other loss was by 15 to West Texas A&M, which is ranked Nos. 5 (coaches) and 4 (SIDs) in the country in Division II – and that was a nine-point game with 8:30 to play.
 
MSU Denver's 32-point win was also by a greater margin than Division I teams Texas-El Paso (14) and New Mexico (21) managed against Eastern New Mexico in exhibition games. The Greyhounds had been averaging 90.3 points per game
 
"Give credit to our guys, they were ready to play," Bahl said. "It wasn't something we did schematically. They made the choice to say, 'Not tonight.' We played extremely hard, we dominated the glass like we wanted to, we kept them out of transition. We made it really hard for them to score and it created opportunities for us offensively. That's MSU Denver basketball. That's what it's always been here, and that's how we always want it to be here."
 
Said Oke: "They probably came in here, looking at our record and who we played in their conference, thinking that they were going to come in and beat us. But we didn't let that happen."
 
Druce Asah shook off an early shooting slump and finished with 20 points, connecting on six of his final eight attempts from 3-point range after missing his first three. The 6-4 guard also had a career-high nine rebounds.
 
"The thing I love the most is that he had nine rebounds," Bahl said. "We challenged him. If you're not making shots, what else can you do for us? He did a great job defensively. And when you start caring more about that stuff and less about how many shots you make, you're going to start making them.
 
"They were rhythm 3s, and those are the ones we want him to take. So I was super proud of him, but I was more proud of his defense and his rebounding."
 
Demetrius Jackson scored 11 points while making 3 of 5 from 3, while Mitch Lombard stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, six rebounds, six assists and three steals.
 
"Mitch got buckets when we needed them, and he showed his toughness," Bahl said. "We challenged him to guard their best player. (Devin) Pullum was averaging (16.3), and Mitch – and his teammates – held him to seven.
 
"It all traces back to our energy, our attitude and our effort on the defensive end. We haven't done that the first three games."
 
Eastern New Mexico finished shooting just 31.7 percent from the field, a season low for the Greyhounds and a season best for MSU Denver.
 
"We played hard, played together, we trusted each other," Oke said. "We played defense and we didn't let them get to their spots."
 
MSU Denver will need another strong defensive effort Saturday as it plays host to Minnesota State-Mankato (2-3), the preseason choice to win the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, at 6 p.m. at the Auraria Event Center to wrap up the Hilton Garden Inn Denver Cherry Creek Classic.