CANYON, Texas – Don't look now everyone, but MSU Denver men's basketball appears to be back.
 
The Roadrunners ventured in to Canyon, Texas, on Thursday to play West Texas A&M – ranked Nos. 7 and 4 in the national polls – hung tough, and won it 80-79 on Brayden Maldonado's clutch 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds to go.
 
MSU Denver improved to 3-0 while winning on the road against a ranked team for the first time since 2014, the season of the program's most recent regional championship.
 
Trailing 79-77 with 4.6 seconds to go, the Roadrunners inbounded the ball on the right sideline. Quave Propst-
Allison lobbed the ball to Caleb McGill on the opposite wing, and McGill then flipped the ball off to a sprinting Maldonado, who was moving from right to left. Maldonado squared up and splashed his sixth 3-pointer of the game, capping a scintillating 27-point performance.
 
"It's something we work on every day, or every other day, at practice," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "We were talking during the timeout about what to go with – should we try something new? But (assistant) coach (Kevin) Farrell said, 'No, stick with what they know,' and they executed it perfectly.
 
"And it had to be Brayden. He was unbelievable all game long – and he has been all year long – and he and Caleb are the heart and soul of this group. You can't ask for more than your two best players in the action, with the ball, with the game on the line."
 
After a timeout, West Texas A&M (3-1) had one last chance, throwing a length-of-the-court pass to the opposite baseline to Kieran Elliott, but his one-handed 10-foot flip, guarded well by Mario Lacy, Jr., was off target.
 
MSU Denver's last road win over a ranked team had been a 57-54 victory at No. 11 Colorado School of Mines on Feb. 7, 2014.
 
All of this comes just in time for the Roadrunners' home opener, Sunday at noon against Fort Hays State (Kan.), which received votes in the preseason coaches' poll and is tied for 16^th in the D2SIDA poll.
 
"We had told our guys that this would be a high-level, NCAA Tournament-type game, and if we want to get there, these are the kinds of teams we have to play and beat," Ficke said. "Now we can't be satisfied, and we have to follow it up on Sunday. If we don't win Sunday, then this one doesn't matter."
 
Maldonado was 10 of 17 from the field and made 6 of 11 from long range while posting career highs in points and 3s.
 
The Roadrunners got outstanding guard play, as KJ Garrett – starting alongside Maldonado – scored 18 points while making 6 of 9 from the field and 6 of 7 at the free throw line.
 
"KJ was phenomenal," Ficke said. "They couldn't guard him in the open court."
 
McGill scored all 12 of his points in the second half, and Mario Lacy, Jr., added eight.
 
"We wanted to attack inside, and we won in the paint (34-32)," Ficke said. "And to go down there and shoot almost as many free throws as they did (21-18), you can't ask for anything better."
 
MSU Denver was sharp early, but an 8-2 run by West Texas A&M gave the Buffaloes a 40-29 lead – their biggest of the game – with 2:49 left in the first half.
 
Quinten Rock answered with his second 3 of the opening half, and Maldonado followed with one of his own, to help the Roadrunners stay within 42-35 at the break.
 
"Quinten has had up and down year, but he's had great two weeks of practice and put himself in position to be the first guy on my mind when we needed to sub for our guards," Ficke said. "He stepped up and did what he can do and knocked down some shots."
 
After shooting only four first-half free throws, the Roadrunners got four attempts in the first 1:08 of the second half, and then a Maldonado 3 and a Garrett basket capped a quick 9-2 run to get them within 45-44.
 
"We talked at half talked about rebounding better – they are such a good, physical team – and we wanted to go inside-out," Ficke said. "Our guards were playing well and doing the heavy lifting, but we had to go inside-out in order to sustain it, so that they could continue to make jump shots."
 
Still, West Texas A&M pushed the lead back to 60-50 with 11:38 left before the Roadrunners once again chipped away.
 
Garrett's free throws with 3:05 left capped a 7-0 run to give MSU Denver a 71-70 lead, its first since it had been 17-16 with 12:06 left in the first half.
 
West Texas A&M turned to all-region player Larry Wise for the next six points, all on one-on-one shots in the lane, but MSU Denver answered each time – with a basket by McGill, a dunk by Lacy, and a layup by Garrett with 17 seconds left that once again made it a one-point deficit.
 
"The biggest thing was the resilience of the group," Ficke said. "We just didn't quit. We told them that it was a heavyweight fight and that we were going to get knocked down, so we had to get back up every single time. And we did."
 
The Buffaloes made just 1 of 2 free throws with 10 seconds left to make the margin two points.
 
Garrett rushed the ball up the floor, but Ficke called timeout as the play appeared to be breaking down.
 
That led to the last-second play design that led to the Roadrunners' first win over a ranked team since a home win over Regis in February, 2022.
 
MSU Denver outshot West Texas A&M from the field (54 percent to 45 percent), from 3 (45 percent to 29 percent) and the free throw line (72 percent to 67 percent) and withstood a minus-6 turnover deficit (12-6) and a 20-4 deficit in second-chance points.
 
"It was a great college basketball game," Ficke said.