DENVER – Another piece to the MSU Denver men's basketball puzzle was put in place.
 
The Roadrunners, while improving to 6-0 for the first time since 2012-13, made a season-high 11 3-pointers on a season-best 55.0-percent shooting beyond the arc while pulling away for a 108-83 victory Sunday over Benedictine Mesa (Ariz.).
 
"As a team, you know when your team can shoot – and we've got some really good shooters," Tyrei Randall said. "We just couldn't get the shots to fall (earlier in the season). But we're just going to keep trusting each other, and we'll hit them."
 
And while there have been hints over the past week – nine made 3s against Maine-Fort Kent on Tuesday, then 42.9-percent shooting from distance Saturday against Concordia-St. Paul (Minn.) – Sunday was the big reveal.
 
"We have good shooters," MSU Denver coach Michael Bahl said. "Isaac Lungren, Tyrei Randall, Chris Simpson … and then you throw a 6-9 guy in there who is so different than Laolu (Oke) … Jake (Chrisman) makes two, and those are big for us."
 
Randall connected on 4 of 6 from long range, Lungren was 3 for 4, Chrisman was 2 for 4, and Simpson and Maris Colton each made his only attempt from distance.
 
Chrisman, who backs up Oke as the Roadrunners' post player, is now 5 for 8 from 3-point range for the season.
 
"It's just a trust thing," Chrisman said. "We work on it in practice and my whole team trusts me.
 
"I've been able to (make 3-pointers), but I haven't really had to (on previous teams). But I've been expanding my role and I'm looking forward to it."
 
Randall, a long-range marksman who connected on 34 3s with 36.2 percent accuracy last season, had opened this year at 20.8 percent (5 of 24) before connecting on 6 of 10 over the past two games.
 
"It feels real good, especially going into conference," Randall said of getting on track. "I do put a lot of work into my shot, and the coaches trust me to shoot the ball. So I'm just going to keep doing what I do, get my reps up and keep knocking them down."
 
Said Bahl: "Ty is probably our most vocal guy, and he's a really good teammate. And even when he was struggling, he was still hyping up other guys and staying positive – and that's what you want from one of your leaders. And it was just a matter of time before Ty found his groove."
 
Randall finished with a team-high 20 points and – ho-hum, Division II super-stardom – Oke had 18 points and 12 rebounds for his 10^th straight double-double dating back to last season. Oke, who was 7 of 8 from the field, is averaging 17.8 points and 14.0 rebounds.
 
Miles Gibson had an efficient 18 points, Friday hero Ra'Shawn Langston scored 13, and Lungren had 12.
 
Still, despite matching last year's team for the highest single-game scoring output for the program since a 109-80 win at UCCS on Feb. 9, 2008, it took a while to put the Redhawks away.
 
Benedictine Mesa, a 2-5 NAIA team, shot 64.3 percent from the field in the first half – including 6 of 11 from 3 – and trailed only 52-48 at the break.
 
"Coach says teams are going to play 10 to 15 points better against us," Randall said. "So we expected it. They came out and hit some tough shots, and 23 (Jay Small) got going from deep. We just had to stay confident, stay within ourselves and trust everything that has been instilled into us – and we were perfectly fine at the end of the day."
 
Said Bahl: "They're a dangerous team. They have good players and a lot of guys who can score. They come in a see our national-title banners, and they've got nothing to lose. And give them credit, they made shots.
 
"But we have to understand that, as a team, we have to put that fire out sooner. We have to get out to faster starts defensively. The past two nights, we haven't done a very good job of establishing ourselves on the defensive end. We've waited until the second half, and we're going to come to a point where we're not going to be able to do that. We've got some things to work on, and we'll get back to work on Tuesday."
 
But they will get back to work on it as a 6-0 team.
 
"It's great," Chrisman said. "I don't know the last time I was on a team that was 6-0. But we can't let that stop us. We're done with the pre-season, and now we get into the conference season like we were 0-0."
 
Said Bahl: "I told the guys that I never want to be part of a program where we're not happy where we are – we want to celebrate being 6-0, it's an accomplishment. But when we get back to work on Tuesday, we're 0-0 and we're looking forward to Westminster."