GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Soon the shots will start to fall for MSU Denver.
 
And when they do, look out.
 
The Roadrunners hung tough with No. 24 Colorado Mesa, which also received votes in the national preseason coaches poll, but ultimately couldn't overcome 31.6 percent field goal shooting and faded late in an 83-68 defeat.
 
MSU Denver grabbed 23 offensive rebounds and turned them into 24 second-chance points to stay close, but made just 5 of 26 shots from 3-point range (19.2 percent), while Mesa connected on 10 of 22 (45.5 percent) from beyond the arc.
 
"I'm very proud of our effort tonight," MSU Denver coach Michael Bahl said. "We battled until the end. We've got to keep having the mentality of using these games to get better. This is a very different year, and we can make some strides moving forward that can really help us in the long run for the program."
 
Laolu Oke led the way individually. One night after grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds, the sophomore scored a career-high 14 points while grabbing 11 rebounds for his first career double-double. His weekend averages were 11.0 points and 12.0 rebounds while connecting on 7 of 8 field goal attempts.
 
Mavrick Gildyard added 12 points and nine rebounds, while freshman Kobe Sanders scored nine.