DENVER – It's been no secret, the MSU Denver men's basketball team struggled with its shooting over the first three games of the season.
But, down the stretch on Saturday, the Roadrunners drained three big 3-pointers and two key free throws to earn their first win of the season, a 74-72 thriller over Western Colorado.
"I'm happy for the guys," MSU Denver coach
Michael Bahl said. "They worked their tails off. It's been an unusual year where we've practiced a lot more than we've played, which is hard on them. I couldn't be more proud of how hard they competed and never gave up."
MSU Denver led by as many as 13 points and held the lead for 29 minutes, but another heartbreaking result was a possibility as Western Colorado managed to pull out to a 67-63 lead.
But then
Keyshaad Dixon knocked down a 3 with 3:13 to go, cutting the margin to one.
"We shoot better than what we've portrayed so far," Dixon said. "We just had to keep our confidence and let it fly. As long as we're taking the right shots, we're doing the right thing."
Down by three points with 1:47 left, freshman
Obi Agbim calmly drained a 3 to tie it at 69-69.
"I looked at the shot clock, and I was just spotting up ready to shoot," Agbim said.
Said Bahl: "He was ready for the moment, and we have a locker room full of guys like that."
Western Colorado hit a free throw – the Moutaineers were 17 of 23 from the line in the second half, while MSU Denver went to the line just 12 times – for a 70-69 lead.
But once again Dixon stepped up.
The Idaho transfer, who was the starting point guard for Ranger (Texas) College in the junior college national championship game two seasons ago, knocked down another from distance to give the Roadrunners a 72-70 advantage.
Dixon had been 0 for 6 from long range coming into the game, and he was 1 for 5 Saturday before draining his two clutch shots.
"I felt like it was the right shot, so I'm going to let it fly," Dixon said. "I was happy to hit it."
Said Bahl: "He had All-Americans behind All-Americans (in junior college), and his job was to get them the ball, not shoot," Bahl said. "At Idaho, he was in the same role, where he wasn't asked to score. He comes to us and we're saying, 'Keyshaad, you need to knock down that shot.'
"It's a mental change for him, and it just doesn't happen overnight. But he's taking the right ones, and he's only going to improve with confidence."
Western Colorado tied it back up, though, but a big offensive rebound by Agbim kept the ball in the Roadrunners' possession. Freshman guard
Kobe Sanders drove the lane and made a slick dish to
Laolu Oke, who was fouled with 13 seconds left.
"The help-side came and he was there, and he's our best finisher," Sanders said. "And I trust him to make free throws."
He did, and the Roadrunners made a stop on the other end to seal it.
MSU Denver, which had been shooting just 29.6 percent from the field and 22.4 percent from 3, hit 48.2 percent of its field goals (27 of 56) and 39.4 percent from 3 (13 of 33) Saturday.
Oh, by the way, did we mention the Roadrunners were playing without two starters?
Into the lineup stepped Sanders, who merely had 12 points and 10 assists. Dixon had nine points and eight assists.
MSU Denver had 20 assists on 27 field goals, its highest assist total in 202 games, since a 22-assist night in a 93-54 win at Western New Mexico on Jan. 4, 2014. Sanders' 10-assist game were the most by a Roadrunner since Marquise Carrington had 11 in a 96-58 win over Chadron State on Feb. 3, 2007 – that was 403 games ago.
"In practice, we thrive on making the extra pass," Sanders said. "It's easier to get into a flow when you make the extra pass."
There were so many standouts on a night when the Roadrunners took turns making big plays.
Tonje Durham had 13 points.
Christian Speller, like Sanders a freshman making his first career start, had seven points, five rebounds and two steals. Oke was plagued by foul trouble, but had the same seven-point, five-rebound, two-steal line.
Ben Joelson knocked down a key 3 while scoring five. The slender Agbim had five rebounds to go with his six points.
Almost overlooked was leading scorer
Mavrick Gildyard. Averaging 9.0 points on 25.7 percent shooting coming in, Gildyard had 15 points on 6 of 11 shooting Saturday.
"He was trying so hard to win the first three games, that he'd force things at times," Bahl said. "Tonight he got 15 points on 11 shots, and that's how he needs to play. I thought
Mavrick Gildyard was an absolute stud."
So, next up for the Roadrunners is a Tuesday home game against Colorado Christian followed by a Thursday home game against South Dakota Mines before a two-week break.
"We enjoy this one, but the biggest game of our season is Tuesday," Bahl said. "We have to get back to work Monday and have a great practice that will lead into Tuesday, and then we'll worry about Wednesday when Wednesday comes."
