CHADRON, Neb. – The MSU Denver men's basketball team rallied from a 13-point deficit with just over 10 minutes to play to put itself in position to win Saturday night, but the Roadrunners fell just short in a 67-64 defeat at Chadron State.
"Now it's a matter of us learning how to win games like that," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "This gets us back where we thought we were – we've been in every game until (the Roadrunners last game on Dec. 17). I thought this was our best 40 minutes of effort from start to finish all season.
"Now we have to learn how we can compete that hard and still be able to fight through the fatigue and adversity. We've got a lot of ball in front of us, and now we have a chance to get right back at home."
MSU Denver's full-court pressure in the final 10 minutes helped it get back in the game after falling behind 51-38.
A steal and dunk by
Jaden Kennis pulled the Roadrunners within 54-50 with 5:41 to play and signaled that it was game on.
Tyrei Randall's 3-pointer got MSU Denver within 56-55 with 3:47 left, and an offensive rebound and basket by
Quave Propst-Allison made it a one-point game again, at 58-57, with 2:50 to go.
Then
Caleb McGill put the Roadrunners ahead for the first time in the second half with a stickback with 2:27 to play, making it 59-58.
Chadron State scored the next four points, though, then made a free throw after another McGill basket to lead 63-61 with 49 seconds left.
A three-point play by McGill got MSU Denver within 65-64 with 21 seconds left, and the Roadrunners took possession on a
Brayden Maldonado steal. But Chadron State stole the ball back and made two free throws with six seconds left.
Down by three, MSU Denver set up a final play for a potential game-tying 3, but Propst-Allison's attempt was just short.
McGill led MSU Denver with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Maldonado had 14 points, Randall scored 10, and Kennis and Propst-Allison each scored seven.
The Roadrunners' renewed focus on defense helped hold Chadron State to 36.2 percent shooting from the field, though the Eagles did connect on 7 of 15 from 3-point range (46.7 percent), including 5 of 9 in the first half (55.6 percent).
"Overall the defensive effort we were preaching all week showed up for most part," Ficke said. "We didn't do a good enough job defending the 3 in the first half and that got us down, and we gave up some key offensive rebounds after we had gotten some stops on first shots, and that stopped our momentum several times."
MSU Denver dropped to 4-8 overall and 1-5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Roadrunners return home for a 7 p.m. game Friday against New Mexico Highlands.
