DENVER – With three straight road victories, the MSU Denver men's basketball team has inched its way ahead of the rest of the pack in the race for third place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
That makes sustaining that momentum critical when the Roadrunners play a 6 p.m. home game Monday against CSU-Pueblo.
 
"Pueblo is a very talented and well-coached team and they have our complete attention," MSU Denver coach Michael Bahl said. "They are playing some good basketball right now, and we are looking forward to the competition on Monday night."
 
While Colorado School of Mines (ranked Nos. 1 and 3 in the national polls) and Colorado Mesa (Nos. 8 and 23) are leading the way in the league, virtually everyone else is in the running for one of the six remaining spots in the league tournament.
 
After Monday, the Roadrunners (7-6 overall, 7-5 RMAC) go back out on the road for their next three games before wrapping up the regular season with home games Feb. 26 and 27. They are two games in front of two teams tied for fourth.
 
CSU-Pueblo (3-7, 3-7) is only 1 ½ games out of eighth place in the RMAC as it competes for the final spot in the RMAC Tournament. If a team or two doesn't meet the 11-game requirement in order to qualify for the tournament, the ThunderWolves' post-season chances are even stronger.
 
On that subject, this matchup appears to set to played. The teams have rescheduled four times previously due to COVID-19 concerns.
 
CSU-Pueblo is coming off a wild 106-103 loss Saturday at Westminster in which David Simental scored a program-record 48 points. A 6-foot-2 guard, Simental leads the ThunderWolves in scoring (19.1 points per game) while shooting 63.0 percent from the field, 44.8 percent from 3-point range (13 of 29) and 89.7 percent at the free throw line (52 of 58).
 
MSU Denver continues to be paced by Laolu Oke, averaging a double-double of 10.5 points and 11.5 rebounds while ranking in the national top seven in multiple categories, including first in the country in offensive rebounds per game (5.2). Oke is shooting 67.6 percent from the field (50 of 74).
 
Kobe Sanders hit 7 of 9 from 3-point range in two wins last week and averages 11.0 points, as does Tyrei Randall. Backup point guard Reggie Gibson is averaging 16.0 points over his last three games.