SPEARFISH, S.D. – MSU Denver improved to 2-0 to open the men's basketball season on Saturday with a 74-64 victory over Oklahoma Christian.
"Getting these two wins back-to-back, especially with Oklahoma Christian coming off a big win and having some confidence, will hopefully do the same for our guys," MSU Denver coach
Dan Ficke said. "Hopefully we'll start to believe in ourselves. We're going to test ourselves this week against (No. 7) West Texas (A&M), but I like the way we're trending. We definitely have a lot of offensive firepower, and we played good defense for three of the four halves this weekend."
MSU Denver jumped out to a 41-29 halftime lead against Oklahoma Christian, coming off a win Friday night against host Black Hills State, the back-to-back Division II national semifinalists.
The Roadrunners shot 55.6 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes (15 of 27) and knocked down 6 of 9 from 3-point range.
"We started the game really well," said Ficke, whose team beat Arkansas-Fort Smith on Friday. "We talked about whoever wanted it more from the jump had a chance to win the game. We came out and handled the back-to-back (games) better, and I'm proud of the guys."
Caleb McGill and
Ryan Maslow combined to hit seven 3-pointers – McGill was 3 for 3 while scoring 18 points, and Maslow was 4 for 10 while scoring 14.
"They both shot it really well," Ficke said. "And Brayden (Maldonado) needed the help – he's been carrying us. Ryan got us off to a good start and hit a big one late, and Caleb had some timely ones as well."
Maldonado scored 15 points and fellow starting guard
KJ Garrett added 13. Mario Lacy, Jr., had eight points and 13 rebounds.
After building the lead to 15 early in the second half, MSU Denver saw the Eagles close within 50-45 with 12:02 left. But a dunk by Lacy and a 3 by McGill capped a quick 7-0 run, and MSU Denver led by at least six points the rest of the way.
The Roadrunners relied heavily on their starting five, but also had two players unavailable for the weekend.
"We had four score in double figures and Mario almost did – and that's what we want from our starting lineup, balance," Ficke said. "Our bench struggled, but was better last night. Coming up here short-handed, we thought our depth might be an issue.
"I've liked our defense and our rebounding – Mario was unbelievable – and now with more offensive kick than last year and two guys not playing who can help us in that regard, I'm excited about what we can do. But now the work is ahead of us. We've just got to stick to it."
