DENVER – If nothing else, never leave an MSU Denver men's basketball game early.
 
The Roadrunners fell behind by 18 points in the first half (a frustrating trend they'd like to put behind them), and came roaring back to even take the lead (an encouraging trend they'd like to extend over 40 minutes), before ultimately falling 93-88 to South Dakota Mines on Saturday at the Auraria Event Center.
 
"It's been the story of our year a lot of times," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "We dig ourselves that first-half deficit. It's easy to come back, but it's hard to come back and win because you have to spend so much effort – especially with the week we've had with flu and injuries and illness."
 
Said senior wing Tyrei Randall: "It's our sense of urgency. We start out slow and we give teams confidence that we shouldn't give confidence, and now we're in a dogfight. We've got to figure out how to not let that happen and we'll be good."
 
One of the short-handed Roadrunners limited by illness this week was sophomore forward Caleb McGill, who scored all 18 of his points, grabbed eight of his 10 rebounds and had all four of his assists in the second half.
 
"I could feel it a little the first four minutes coming off the bench," McGill said. "I had to get that first wind under me. But once I started going, I felt pretty healthy."
 
Said Randall: "That just goes to show that Caleb is a dog (a positive statement). And once he gets into that mode where he believes that nobody can guard him … nobody can guard him."
 
Trailing 46-33 at halftime, MSU Denver used a 17-6 burst to get within 52-50 on a Randall 3-pointer just 4 ½ minutes into the second stanza. Two McGill free throws got the Roadrunners within 53-52.
 
But South Dakota Mines stretched it back out, was up by as many as 12 points, and still led 80-70 with 6:25 to go.
 
But Randall hit a 3, McGill made 3 of 4 free throws, and freshman Yaw Reneer drained a 3 to make it a one-point game at 80-79. Two McGill free throws tied it at 81-81, and then McGill stepped out and nailed a 3 for an 84-83 lead with 2:33 left.
 
"Caleb was unbelievable in the second half," Ficke said. "He has these moments where the light goes on and he's aggressive and assertive and realizes how good he is. We've just got to get him to do that for 40 minutes, night in and night out. The light is starting to go on for him, and it's going to be special when the light stays on for him."
 
Brevin Walter, who scored a South Dakota Mines record of 45 points, answered with a tough three-point play with 1:53 left and the Hardrockers were able to hold off MSU Denver the rest of the way.
 
"In the locker room at halftime, I told the guys, 'All I want you to do is fight,'" Ficke said. "We have a choice. Back-to-backs are tough, and we had a heart-breaking game last night that we were really emotional about. We had a tough first half tonight, but then we fought. We saw some really good things, saw what we're capable of doing and that's part of being a young team – can you do it for 40 minutes consistently? We haven't been able to do that a lot yet."
 
Said McGill: "There's a lot of good to take from this game. Our biggest lesson is that we have to be the same team for 40 minutes. We have a lot of ups and downs, highs and lows. We've got to be more level-headed throughout the whole 40 minutes of the game."
 
Randall finished with a team-high 20 points for MSU Denver, which shot 57.7 percent from the field in the second half, including 10 of 17 from 3 (58.8 percent) after the break. After making 10 of 19 from 3 in the first half, South Dakota Mines made just 2 of 7 in the final 20 minutes – MSU Denver actually outshot the Hardrockers from 3 for the game, connecting on 14 of 30 for 46.7 percent compared to South Dakota Mines' 12 of 26 for 46.2 percent.
 
"The first half, we were maybe a little lackadaisical, not fully where we needed to be with our effort level," Ficke said. "The second half it changed and we ended up hitting more 3s than them for the game. It's about us learning that you have to play with your back against the wall from the jump. You can't wait for a team to get hot, because what you let them get comfortable with early is going to beat you late."