DENVER – Never. Say. Die.
Brayden Maldonado's jaw-dropping blocked shot with 33 seconds left Friday night didn't win the game for MSU Denver. In fact it didn't change the outcome in the 76-71 loss to Sioux Falls (S.D.).
But it was a glimpse into what first-year coach Dan Ficke is trying to instill into the Roadrunners' program.
"We talk about, 'Never give up. No uncontested shots,'" Ficke said. "It could have easily been a play where Brayden could have just quit on it and let him lay it in and the game was over. But that kid's heart – he went and blocked it. Those types of plays are what we want to build on. We want to be an unrelenting team that never gives up.
"Now, I'd like that urgency for the full 40 minutes instead of the last seven."
The second half had been an uphill battle for MSU Denver, which trailed 60-43 with 8:19 to play – in retrospect, it was strikingly similar to the 15-point deficit with eight minutes left that the Roadrunners overcame to defeat Arkansas-Fort Smith in overtime two weeks ago.
The Roadrunners cut the deficit to single digits a couple of times, but were still down by 10, 74-64, with 52 seconds left.
But Tyrei Randall made 2 of 3 free throws to make it an eight-point game with 45 seconds to go before Sioux Falls' 6-foot-4 Chase Grinde waltzed it for what appeared to be an easy, game-clinching layup after the Cougars had broken MSU Denver's full-court pressure.
But out of nowhere – soaring from the balcony on the opposite end of the floor perhaps? – came the 6-foot Maldonado. He slapped Grinde's shot off the backboard to ignite a fast break that Skylar Robinson capped with a 3 to make it 74-69 with 29 seconds left.
Then nearly the same thing happened as Grinde missed a contested layup, and back came the Roadrunners to score on Caleb McGill's layup with 10 seconds to go. A game that had seemed somewhat over for about 20 minutes of real time was suddenly a one-possession affair at 74-71.
MSU Denver fouled quickly, and Jack Thompson made two free throws to seal it. But still, that wild final minute was something to think about.
"We're a team that doesn't quit," McGill said. "We fight to the end. It's just a matter of putting it together for 40 minutes and having the same fight that we had for the last eight minutes for the whole game."
Said AJ Kula: "We're disappointed in the loss for sure. We just have to play the whole game the way we did the last few minutes. We're not a team that can turn it off and on. We're frustrated with the outcome, but it's something we can learn from."
McGill, the 6-foot-8 transfer from Division I UC Davis, posted his first career double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Roadrunners.
"He rebounded like what I think he can be, which is an All-American," Ficke said. "I think he can be the next guy in line here like a J-Mo (MSU Denver Hall of Famer Jonathan Morse), who can score, rebound and play inside and out.
"But I told him he'd never be an All-American if he was only getting two rebounds a game – and he got 13 tonight. Hopefully the tide is turning. You could see the two-hand rebounds where he just went up and snatched it, and that's what he's got to do all the time. We'll show a lot of film of that tomorrow."
Said McGill: "I was just trying to accept the challenge. Coach has been on me about rebounding, so I tried to go my hardest on the glass and contribute where I could for my team."
Randall scored 16 and Kula, a freshman forward, scored 11 of his career-high 13 in the second half.
"He had a great week of practice leading up to this," Ficke said of Kula. "Because of that, we knew we had to get him in. He came through when we needed him. All our freshmen have shown signs of what they are capable of, and now we just need to get some consistency from them."
Kula, who had scored a total of four points in the Roadrunners' first four games, made 5 of 6 from the field.
"Coach has been telling the guys on the bench to stay ready no matter what, because you never know what's going to happen," Kula said. "I was lucky enough to see a few go down and I felt really good about it."
A couple of troublesome trends continued – Sioux Falls was able to shoot 19 more field goals than the Roadrunners on the strength of 17 offensive rebounds and 18 MSU Denver turnovers. And though MSU Denver earned 36 free throw attempts, it made just 22 for 61.1 percent.
"Our defense was solid," Ficke said. "We're at our numbers—40 percent field goals (allowed) and 28 percent from 3. We made them miss, but we gave them too many second shots and we lost too many opportunities offensively because of careless passes and missed reads."
MSU Denver (2-3) will look to clean up some of those issues Saturday in a 4 p.m. home game against Cal Poly Humboldt (2-3), which lost Friday at Regis 79-72.
"We'll build the calluses in November so that come February and March we're ready to go win big-time games like this felt like," Ficke said. "It's all about the RMAC, and this is preparation for that. We've got 22 games that really matter after this one and the one tomorrow."
