DENVER -- Coach Michael Bahl walked away from practices from time to time last year shaking his head.
 
A point guard who was sitting out of competition after transferring had taken a band of walk-on and scout-team players and had given his regular MSU Denver team fits. Again.
 
And the regular team he was doing it against was certainly one of the most talented groups in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
"He was a handful for us to guard in practice last year," Bahl said.
 
That redshirt point guard was Mitch Lombard. And this year, the former recruited walk-on at Colorado is eligible and playing.
 
Through six games this season, Lombard is averaging 10.2 points per game and team bests of 4.7 assists and 1.7 steals. He's shooting 49.0 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from 3-poin range for the 4-2 Roadrunners, who open RMAC play this weekend with home games Friday against Regis (5-1) and Saturday against Colorado Christian (0-6). Starting time each night at the Auraria Event Center is at 7. The Friday game will be televised locally on Channel 20.
 
Last weekend, Lombard led MSU Denver to two victories, including a quality non-conference win over Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference favorite Minnesota State-Mankato and for his efforts he has been MSU Denver's Student-Athlete of the Week.
 
In two games last week, Lombard averaged 14.0 points, 6.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals while shooting 63.2 percent from the field (12 of 19) and 66.7 percent (2 of 3) from 3. With MSU Denver needing key baskets late against Minnesota State, Lombard scored on a driving layup to get the Roadrunners within one point with 2:06 to play and, after a Minnesota State 3-pointer, Lombard answered with a 3 of his own with 1:28 to play to once again make it a one-point game.
 
"When the going gets tough, you have to have a player step up," Bahl said. "Mitch Lombard comes to the table and … he's not known as a shooter, but he makes plays. He's such a tough guard. His ability to do what he does, bringing confidence and toughness, trickles over to Demetrius Jackson to Maris (Colton), to everyone."
 
Lombard then delivered the assist on the go-ahead basket by Jackson with 43 seconds left. MSU Denver won 75-72 as Lombard had game-highs of 18 points and six assists to go along with two steals and two rebounds.
 
"He's the best point guard in the RMAC," Jackson said. "He gets everyone open all the time. He can drop a dime anywhere at any point in time. It's insane. You just have to be ready. You see the way he attacks the basket, he defends well, he does everything at a high level. He's a D-I guy and it's nice to have his leadership, because he's older and you can look up to him.
 
"I see the way he plays and I try to add some of his stuff to my game."
 
In an 82-50 Friday win over an Eastern New Mexico team that had played undefeated Fort Lewis and New Mexico Highlands within five points and had an 8-point second-half lead on Regis, Lombard stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points (on 4 of 5 shooting), six rebounds, six assists and two steals while also guarding the Greyhounds' top offensive player (Devin Pullum) and keeping him 9.0 points below his average.
 
Lombard began his college career at Colorado after scoring 994 points in his career at Rock Canyon High School. He averaged 15.6 points, 4.8 assists and 2.0 steals as a senior. He was a Buffaloes fan through and through.
 
"The first basketball game I ever went to was in sixth grade, CU vs. Kansas State," Lombard said. "Ever since I saw that game, I wanted to play there and be part of that. I'm super thankful that I got the opportunity for two years. It was the time of my life."
 
Lombard played in a total of 13 games during his two seasons with the Buffaloes and still loved the game and the program. But it was time for him to figure some things out.
 
"That's the point when they start pushing you towards finding a major and thinking about what you want to do with your life," he said. "And at that point, all I ever wanted was to be a college basketball player. I hadn't put much thought into anything else."
 
Lombard wanted to get into the film business and decided to attend film school in Los Angeles. But during his year away, he missed sports and he eventually transferred to MSU Denver to pursue a sport management degree.
 
"I didn't 100 percent have the intention of playing," Lombard said. "But in the back of my mind I knew that if I went (to MSU Denver) that I was going to at least try to play."
 
He contacted the CU staff, and the next day Bahl got a call from Buffaloes associate head coach Mike Rohn.
 
"We got lucky," Bahl said. "He said, 'Hey, I've got a guy you've got to take.' I said, 'Who?' He said, 'Mitch Lombard.'
 
"I remembered him."
 
Indeed he did. But when Lombard played in team camps at MSU Denver as a high school player, he was already out of reach. Not only did he have the walk-on offer from CU, he also had a scholarship offer from Denver University.
 
"The summer before my senior year, CU told my coaches that they would love to have me as a walk-on," Lombard said. "Once I heard that, I had kind of made my decision."
 
A Spencer Dinwiddie fan as a youth, Lombard still knew about the Roadrunners' tradition – which includes two NCAA Division II national championships and the best winning percentage in Division II history.
 
"Growing up, the first school you'd hear about was CU," Lombard said. "But the second school was always MSU Denver. Back then they had guys like Brandon Jefferson and Mitch McCarron. This has always been one of the prestigious basketball programs in the state of Colorado."
 
Now Lombard is hoping to get the Roadrunners back on top again.

On the court, he weaves his way in and out of traffic, looking for open players on the perimeter while always ready to sneak past taller defenders and get shots off the glass before they can react. Leave him open and he will knock down jump shots from the 3-point line.
 
"He's the straw that stirs the drink, very similar to what Steve Nash was for his teams," Bahl said. "He gets the ball in spots when it needs to be there. He knows when to score and when to pass. He just gets it. He's a really complete point guard."
 
The 6-foot-2 Lombard lists Nash and Chris Paul among those he loved to watch play and emulate while growing up.
 
"I just try to be a point guard," he said. "I want to help put the team in the best situations possible. I like to drive at the basket and get people involved. The best thing I do is just being a passer. That's what I enjoy most."
 
Lombard said that, though he rarely played while in Los Angeles, he knocked the rust off his game relatively quickly while sitting out last season. Now, he's ready to go.
 
"It's been a really long time," he said. "I haven't played in a real game, gotten real minutes, since my senior year of high school."