DENVER – It took a while, but MSU Denver eventually bounced back from a disappointing loss in its league opener and earned an 81-76 overtime win Saturday night over Colorado Christian.
 
And perhaps no players were more emblematic of the turnaround than Druce Asah and Mitch Lombard.
 
The Roadrunners' guards were out of form in Friday's 66-65 loss to Regis and had combined for just five points in the first half Saturday as Colorado Christian forged a 29-28 lead.
 
But the duo combined for 30 points in the second half and overtime as MSU Denver shot 51.7 percent from the field in the second 20 minutes and then made 6 of 7 shots in overtime while improving to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
"Druce came off the bench tonight and he responded exactly the way we thought he would respond," Metropolitan State University of Denver coach Michael Bahl said. "He's an all-conference player, a borderline All-American in my opinion, just a great, great player. He just settled himself down. The way he shot the ball and the way he defended was big time.
 
"Mitch was in foul trouble last night and never really got into the rhythm of the game. He did a much better job tonight of being aggressive and getting other guys involved. That's what we expect of Mitchell."
 
Asah came into the game shooting just 32.1 percent from 3-point range after connecting at a 43.0 clip last season. But he hit 3 of 5 from distance Saturday, including a clutch tie-breaking connection to give the Roadrunners a 75-72 lead with 2:56 left in the extra session.
 
"It's a testament to Druce Asah," Bahl said. "Last night, he had a big-time shot when we were up by one with 14 seconds left, and we want him to take that shot 100 percent of the time. Unfortunately, it didn't go his way. But for him to bounce back tonight, tie game, he's wide open and he bangs a 3. The kid never gets down, and we had total trust in him.
 
"(Teammate) Christian Wilson-Poole had just said, 'Coach, he's going to hit one, watch it.' Thirty seconds later he did. That's guys believing in each other. At the end of the day, those are the sort of moments that can make or break a team."
 
Said a smiling Asah: "It feels good, just to know that they can still go in. I've just got to keep going, keep going to the gym and getting reps, and know that they're going to go in."
 
Lombard made 7 of 11 from the field and also dished out six assists, four of which came after halftime. The last one was on a back-door cut to Elijah Straughter, who dunked it for the final points of the game with 17 seconds left.
 
"It was just drawn up to be a pick-and-roll," Lombard said. "And Elijah saw his man turn his head, so he made the smart play. It was a huge play for us."
 
Speaking of back-door cuts, Colorado Christian was executing in terrific fashion in its version of the Princeton offense. The Cougars (0-8 overall, 0-2 RMAC), victim of a strong schedule, shot 48 percent from the field in the second half and 45.3 percent for the game.
 
"There was a lot of resolve from our team today," Bahl said. "And that's a tough team to prepare for – give Colorado Christian a lot of credit. We only had less than 12 hours to prepare for them and they probably practice that offense 20 hours a week.
 
"They had nothing to lose and they were playing free and easy. Some of the shots we saw on film that they normally don't take, they were taking them and making them. But we showed our resolve, our toughness and our depth."
 
Kendall McIntosh kept the Roadrunners afloat in the first half, when he scored 15 of his 17 points before running into second-half foul trouble.
 
"I don't think our energy level was where it needed to be, but that's understandable based on how last night's game went," Bahl said. "That's something we have to overcome. In this league, you play back-to-back (nights). You've got to have a short memory. I was disappointed with our energy early, but we bounced back the second half and played with more energy and enthusiasm. And it showed."
 
Lombard said it took a while to shake off Friday's disappointment.
 
"We were on kind of an emotional hangover from the night before," Lombard said. "We felt like we kind of just threw a game away when we could have started conference play with a win over a really good Regis team."
 
That goes for himself, too, he said.
 
"I played a terrible game Friday and I didn't bounce back well in the first half today," Lombard said. "And I just felt like I owed it to my team to be aggressive and do everything I could to help us win."
 
The Roadrunners did that. And, despite dropping Friday's game, they are in an OK position in the RMAC because, if the first full weekend is any indication, it could be wide open.
 
Six of the 16 teams have played three RMAC games, and the others have played two. Two teams are unbeaten, while the Roadrunners are one of 10 teams with one loss.
 
"That's a good team that has played a lot of teams close," Bahl said. "They competed, and they challenged our guys. I thought our guys responded."