DENVER – There's one more obstacle standing between the MSU Denver men's basketball team and a happy holiday break.
 
Saturday's 4 p.m. home game against South Dakota Mines.
 
"With finals ending (Thursday), our guys have that off their chest and now we need to keep them focused before the break," MSU Denver coach Michael Bahl said. "We don't want to lose before taking a 10-day break. We need to stay present, to stay where our feet are. We want to finish strong before the break."
 
MSU Denver is 8-2 overall and 2-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference after Tuesday's key 66-59 win at Colorado Christian.
 
The Roadrunners trailed 57-56 with two minutes left, but went 3-for-3 on their next three possessions, then made four straight free throws on the next two to seal the game and pick up their first road win of the season.
 
"Any time you can get a road win, especially at a place like Colorado Christian, it's huge," Bahl said. "If you look through the history books, even back when I was playing here, Colorado Christian has been a tough place for us to play – we're 15 minutes apart and the guys on each team know each other and they come out and play hard.
 
"So that was a good win for us, especially after the letdown we had Saturday (in a loss at Western Colorado) in terms of our effort and energy."
 
South Dakota Mines (3-7, 1-3) lost 73-66 Thursday at Colorado Christian, but the Hardrockers play a brand of basketball that can be difficult to overcome.
 
"Coach (Eric) Glenn does a great job and his kids always play hard," Bahl said. "They have a system, a pattern, and there's a certain type of kid they want. They have kids with good size and who play hard."
 
Kolten Mortensen, a 6-foot-7 post player who averages 14.7 points and 8.7 rebounds while shooting 47.7 percent from 3-point range (21 of 44), can be a challenging matchup.
 
MSU Denver has some threats of its own with four players averaging in double figures in Ra'Shawn Langston (16.7), Laolu Oke (16.0), Tyrei Randall (13.5) and Miles Gibson (12.9). And point guard Keyshaad Dixon has a +2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio.
 
Oke ranks third in NCAA Division II in rebounds per game (12.3), while Randall is shooting 45.8 percent from 3-point range, including 22 of 35 for 62.9 percent over his last six games.
 
"This is a big game for us," Bahl said.