DENVER – Sometimes you have to go with what you've got.
 
On a night when MSU Denver shot only 40 percent from the field and connected on just 4 of 20 from long range, the Roadrunners forced 20 turnovers, held South Dakota Mines to 35.8 percent shooting and seemed to get nearly every loose ball to scratch out a 57-52 victory on Saturday.
 
"You have to win games in many different ways," MSU Denver coach Michael Bahl said. "We didn't shoot the ball particularly well, but we had good looks. When you have the looks that we had, you have to keep shooting them.
 
"The thing I liked the most is that we fought through and defended when we weren't making shots. To hold a team to 52 points and force 20 turnovers … we probably could have won by more, but at the end of the day nobody looks back and says, 'you only won by this many points so it's not really a win.'"
 
It was indeed another win for MSU Denver, which improved to 9-2 overall and 3-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference heading into a 10-day holiday break.
 
"It's good to be here right now, and hopefully we can build on it after the break," point guard Keyshaad Dixon said.
 
Using a half-court trap that helped keep South Dakota Mines out of sync, MSU Denver built a 33-18 first-half lead, led 33-22 at halftime, and had second-half advatages of 35-22, 43-33 with 11:59 to go, and 50-40 with 7:48 left.
 
But South Dakota Mines wouldn't go away.
 
"It was a different type of team," wing Miles Gibson said. "They play slow. No fast breaks. We tried to push the pace, but they're a good team and they stuck with us."
 
Gibson stuck out Saturday with 24 points and 14 rebounds, meeting (rebounds) and exceeding (points) season highs.
 
"When you're struggling from the field and you have a guy score 24 points, it helps," Bahl said.
 
Said Gibson: "I felt good, but my teammates were finding me and coach was running plays. I just happened to make the shots."
 
Gibson, a 6-foot-6 transfer from Eastern Michigan, made 9 of 19 from the field, including 2 of 3 from 3-point range for his first game with more than one made 3.
 
"You know Miles is going when he's rebounding at a high level," Bahl said. "We've challenged him, and I thought he really guarded tonight. He got in a stance and defended, was one of our better defenders, and that's what we care more about."
 
Laolu Oke had 10 points, nine rebounds and two assists while matching a career high with four steals, and Dixon similarly stuff the stat sheet with six points, two rebounds, five assists and two steals.
 
MSU Denver had a season-high 11 steals and had multiple deflections. Most of the defensive mayhem came in the half-court trap.
 
"They have a million sets," Dixon said. "And it helped take them out of them. The pressure set the tone early, and the early lead helped us win the game at the end."
 
Said Bahl: "It's one way to speed them up. They run so many different actions, so many different sets, and it's hard to guard for 20 to 30 seconds – eventually you break down. So you're just trying to steal a little bit of time. We were only having to guard about 15 seconds. And our guys played incredibly hard."
 
South Dakota Mines crept back into it, closing the deficit to 50-49 with 3:04 left – Gibson replied with a 3-pointer 19 seconds later. The Hardrockers got back within 55-52 with 22 seconds left, but Gibson made two free throws and MSU Denver got a defensive stop to end it.
 
"I'm proud of the guys," Bahl said. "We had a lot of adversity this semester, and to finish 9-2, I'm pretty darn happy."