DENVER – It was on this date, 21 years ago, that MSU Denver played Kentucky Wesleyan, in a game televised by CBS, for the Division II national championship. And, though the Roadrunners fell 75-60 in their first title game, they bounced back a year later to beat the same team for the title.
 
The 1999 title game highlights our latest installment of "On This Date in Roadrunners History," which looks back at the biggest accomplishments in MSU Denver athletics on that particular calendar day.
  
On This Date, March 20:
 
1999 – Then a perennial Division II power, Kentucky Wesleyan, playing in the final for the second straight year, jumped out to a 36-22 halftime lead and held off a determined charge from MSU Denver, playing in its first championship game.
 
MSU Denver got within seven points early in the second half but could come no closer. Lee Barlow had 19 points and John Bynum added 15 for the Roadrunners. Both Barlow and DeMarcos Anzures were named to the Elite Eight all-tournament team. MSU Denver grabbed a whopping 24 offensive rebounds and outrebounded Kentucky Wesleyan slightly, 43-39. Antonio Garcia had 22 points and 19 rebounds for Kentucky Wesleyan, playing close to home at the Commonwealth Convention Center in Louisville, Ky.
 
"This was a tremendous experience for a program that has not had a bite of that apple yet," third-year Roadrunners coach Mike Dunlap said after the game.
 
Also on March 20:
 
2002 – En route to its second national championship in three years, the 22^nd-ranked MSU Denver men's basketball team rolled past No. 3 Cal State San Bernardino 65-48 in the Elite Eight (national quarterfinals) at Roberts Stadium in Evansville, Ind. Patrick Mutombo had game highs of 18 points and eight rebounds, Lee Bethea added 11 points and Luke Kendall had eight points, seven rebounds and eight assists. The Roadrunners shot 55.6 percent from the field while taking a 36-20 halftime lead.
 
2008 – Jake Palmer was 5-for-6 with two homers and four RBIs, and Reece Gorman was 4-for-6 with three RBIs, to lead a 24-hit barrage as MSU Denver improved to 21-4 overall and 13-0 in the RMAC with a 21-14 baseball win at Regis.
 
2009 – Tyree Abshire was 5-for-6 with a homer and five RBIs as MSU Denver defeated Colorado School of Mines 14-7 in baseball.
 
2011 – Amber Roundtree was 4-for-9 with a homer and two RBIs and MSU Denver swept a softball doubleheader with Chadron State by scores of 9-4 and 11-5.
 
2013 – Kelsey Tillery and Stephanie Dunham each delivered two-run doubles in a five-run fifth inning at MSU Denver defeated 11^th-ranked Fort Hays State (Kan.) 6-4 in the second game of a softball doubleheader.
 
2016 – Cassidy Smith homered in both games of a doubleheader while going 4-for-6 with seven RBIs, and she pitched a three-hit shutout in the five-inning opening game, as MSU Denver swept Western New Mexico 12-0 and 9-1 in softball.
 
2016 – Julian Garcia struck out eight in seven innings to improve to 3-0 and lift MSU Denver to a 7-2 win over Colorado Christian in the first game of a baseball doubleheader. Javi Vega gave up one run on five hits in six innings to win the second game 12-1 as he improved to 3-1. Hunter Donaldson was 4-for-4 with a homer, and Jeff Levett also went 4-for-4.
 
2018 – Megan Sansburn went 4-for-4 with seven RBIs – four on a first-game grand slam and three more in the nightcap – as MSU Denver swept Fort Hays State (Kan.) 9-1 and 6-4 in a softball doubleheader.