SALT LAKE CITY – A red-hot Westminster shot 61.0 percent from the field Friday night and MSU Denver couldn't keep pace in suffering a 93-65 defeat in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball opener.
 
After trailing 41-28 at halftime, MSU Denver was still within 51-41 after a Quinten Rock 3-pointer with 12:11 to go.
 
But Westminster made its next five shots – three of them 3-pointers -- to push the lead to 64-46. The Griffins then made their last eight field goals attempts – two of those were 3s – to close the game on a 13 of 15 run from the field.
 
Westminster made 9 of 15 from 3-point range for the game, including 5 of 6 in the second half. The Griffins were 18 of 26 from the field (69.2 percent) after halftime.
 
"They did a great job of handling our pressure and rotating the ball for easy shots," Ficke said. "They didn't miss a lot of shots, but they got themselves easy shots – open 3s and layups."
 
Rock led MSU Denver (3-4) with 13 points while making 3 of 5 from 3.
 
"Quinten seems to be getting comfortable and that's a big positive for us," Ficke said.
 
Tyrei Randall had nine points, while Brayden Maldonado and Yaw Reneer each had seven.
 
The Roadrunners shot 41.2 percent overall, and 26.1 percent from 3.
 
"They kept us out of rhythm on offense and were physical and pushed us off our spots," Ficke said.
 
MSU Denver plays Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Colorado Mesa, which is receiving votes in both Division II national polls. Mesa trailed 73-47 to top-10 Colorado School of Mines on Friday before scoring 15 of the final 16 points in a 74-62 defeat.
 
"This was a good test to show what the RMAC is like, and how hard we've got to play," Ficke said. "It shows us that we've got to be ready to play from the jump, and we can't give the other team confidence early or it's going to be long night for us.
 
"We'll learn from this and then we'll face a team that got blown out tonight, too. So we'll see who will lick their wounds and pull up their bootstraps faster tomorrow."