Box Score DENVER – Down 12 points with just over seven minutes to play, Adams State got on a roll.
And MSU Denver couldn't quite get it to stop.
"Give them all the credit," MSU Denver coach
Michael Bahl said. "They made a couple of plays, and I thought we relaxed. We pride ourselves on the defensive side, and when you give up 53 points in the second half, it doesn't matter who you are playing. We let up a little too much."
The Roadrunners built a 70-58 lead before Adams State stormed back to claim an 87-81 victory Thursday night at the Auraria Event Center. The Grizzlies improved to 4-3, both overall and in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, while MSU Denver dropped to 3-4 and 3-3.
"I think we played pretty well overall," said MSU Denver forward
Laolu Oke, who again was sensational with 13 points and 16 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. "We stayed true to our scout. We did pretty well on defense.
"But at the six-minute mark of the second half, things went bad. We had a couple of mistakes and they hit a couple of 3s and went on a little run. Then we just couldn't get out of the hole."
Adams State finished the game on a 29-11 run. The Grizzlies led for only 9:49, but led when it mattered most.
Nykolas Lange hit three 3s in a span of 2:04 for the first nine points in the game-ending surge, and Destan Williams scored 10 of his game-high 26 points down the stretch.
The Grizzlies made 11 of 25 (44.0 percent) from 3-point range, including 6 of 11 (54.5 percent) in the second half. They shot 60 percent from the field in the second half (18 of 30) after making just 41.9 percent (13 of 31) in the opening 20 minutes.
"In the first half when we didn't score, we really gritted our teeth and got some stops and held them to 34 points," Bahl said. "In the second half, we started scoring more and we became comfortable with exchanging baskets.
"I've got to do a better job of getting our guys more intense, and helping them understand that you don't win games on the offensive side. It doesn't matter how many points you score, if you can't stop anybody at crunch time, you're always going to be in a close game."
MSU Denver's offense was well-balanced, with six players scoring in double figures. Besides Oke, Tonje Durham and Mavrick Gilyard also scored 13.
Tyrei Randall had 11,
Keyshaad Dixon and
Christian Speller each scored 10, and
Kobe Sanders added nine.
Dixon had six assists, and the Roadrunners had 17 assists on their 30 field goals.
"Offense isn't the problem," Bahl said. "In the games we've won, we were rocking and rolling on both sides. Offense dictated defense and defense dictated offense. We sort of fell in the trap of (trading baskets) tonight. It's the sign of a young team. But they're young too, and so it's no excuse."
Oke, NCAA Division's II leader in offensive rebounds per game (6.5) while ranking fifth in rebounds per game (11.7) coming into the night, merely grabbed eight more boards on each end to get his 16 – still only his third-best rebounding night of the season. He's also had a school record 20, then 17 in his next game, giving him an average of 17.7 over his last three games.
"He's the best rebounder in the country in my opinion," Bahl said. "He played his tail off, and for the most part I thought all our guys did. It wasn't an effort thing. We lost some mental focus and it came back to bite us."
