LAS VEGAS, N.M. – The Metropolitan State University of Denver men's basketball team struggled defensively at New Mexico Highlands on Friday evening, falling to the Cowboys by a 103-69 count.

"Hats off to Highlands," MSU Denver head coach Michael Bahl said following the game. "They went out and went after us and we went back on our heels and really couldn't recover."

New Mexico Highlands (17-9, 12-8 and T-6th Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) got off to a hot start, leading the Roadrunners (10-14, 8-12 and T-10th RMAC) 20-9 less than seven minutes into the game. MSU Denver's 11-point deficit doubled over the next 2:24, as the Cowboys took a 31-9 advantage with 10:43 remaining in the opening half.

"We lacked a lot of energy and we lacked a sense of urgency," Bahl said. "When you don't have those two things it's hard to win, especially on the road."

Unfortunately, a comeback from the early 22-point deficit wasn't in the cards for the Roadrunners on Friday at the John A. Wilson Complex in Las Vegas, N.M.

The hole grew to 30 by halftime as MSU Denver trailed 62-32 heading into the locker room. Though Freshman Demetrius Jackson (Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) – who has been playing his best basketball of the season heading into the game – hit a three-pointer to open the second half, MSU Denver never established enough momentum to narrow the deficit.

The Cowboys basically needed to tread water in the second half in order to win the game, and they did. The result was MSU Denver's biggest loss of the season at the hands of the team it took to two overtimes at home in a heartbreaking 83-81 loss on Jan. 19.

Junior guard Druce Asah (Tracy, Calif./Tracy) led the Roadrunners with 17 points on 7 of 13 shooting on Friday, but he hit just 1 of 5 attempts from 3-point land.

MSU Denver struggled from deep as a whole, making just 3 of 19 attempts from long range during the game. Despite the Roadrunners' fairly decent 43.6 percent (24 of 55) mark from the field and an excellent 85.7 percent (18 of 21) from the charity stripe, too many 3-pointers failed to find the bottom of the net against an opponent that went 13 of 24 (54.2 percent) from distance.

A silver lining? After entering the game with 999, Asah eclipsed 1,000 career points for his collegiate career on his first bucket of the game, a layup with 16:35 remaining in the first half. The Roadrunners' leading scorer (16.5 points per game) in 2018-19 has amassed 379 points this season after totaling 637 seasons in two years for Cal State East Bay prior to transferring to MSU Denver.

Senior forward Jaryn Taylor (Yucaipa, Calif./Yucaipa) dropped 12 points and grabbed a team-leading seven rebounds in the loss, while redshirt junior Kendall McIntosh (Oakley, Calif./Freedom) and redshirt freshman Marcus Jefferson (Lewisville, Texas/Lewisville) also reached double figures with 10 points each.

Three Cowboys scored 20-plus points, as Raquan Mitchell and Gerad Davis each recorded 23 points while DJ Bustos had 21 on 7 of 8 shooting from deep. Highlands shot 58.6 percent (34 of 58) from the field as a team.

MSU Denver looks for a quick turnaround tomorrow night in Pueblo, Colo., for the last regular season away game of 2018-19 at CSU-Pueblo. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. MST from Massari Arena.

"We need to regroup and play better tomorrow because it doesn't get any easier from here," Bahl said.