OKLAHOMA CITY – Dan Ficke's first victory as MSU Denver's men's basketball coach is one to remember.
The Roadrunners rallied from several 15-point second-half deficits, the last time at 69-54 with 8:42 to go, and earned a 91-86 overtime victory Satuday against Arkansas-Fort Smith.
"It was a great win," Ficke said. "The guys showed unbelievable toughness and they were able to fight through adversity and pull it out."
Tyrei Randall starred down the stretch, helping the Roadrunners make up a deficit that was still eight points with just over three minutes by scoring all 10 points in a 10-2 run to end regulation. He scored on a layup with 3:01 left, hit a 3 with 2:25 to play, canned three free throws with 1:44 left to tie the game 77-77 and tied it back up 79-79 with two free throws with 29 seconds left.
"Tyrei was great for us yesterday, but he got off a little bit of a slow start today," Ficke said. "But he got his mind together and he was determined to not to let us go out of here without a win.
"We ran a couple of designed plays for him and he got a couple of drives downhill, and he got fouled on a 3 from the corner after he had hit a couple of them."
In a back-and-forth overtime, Randall's 3-pointer with 1:06 left put the Roadrunners ahead to stay at 88-86.
"That's a senior who stepped up and made big shots in big situations," Ficke said. "He willed us to a win."
Randall finished with 25 points, while true freshman point guard Brayden Maldonado had a terrific game with 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
"That's a freshman stepping up and playing beyond his years," Ficke said. "That's the type of play we're hoping to get from him, and it will be tough for him to do every night – but the more consistent he can be, the better.
"The biggest thing is the rebounds and assists. We want him to be the straw that stirs the drink, to help Tyrei and Caleb (McGill) get shots and to be good on ball screens and make good decisions. When the game was on the line today, nerves were not a factor for him. He played like an upperclassman."
McGill added 15 points and blocked three shots, while Jaden Kennis and Luke Jones each had nine.
After shooting 32.1 percent in a season-opening 80-55 loss to Oklahoma Christian on Friday, the Roadrunners shot 52.6 percent Saturday, including 65.2 percent (15 of 23) in the second 20 minutes.
"We've got to remember that we're a young team and this is a new system for all the guys," Ficke said. "It's going to take some time for them to get comfortable with it.
"The biggest takeaway from this weekend is that this group just doesn't quit, even last night. Tonight they started growing up before our guys, and that last eight minutes and the overtime is something we can build on."
