DENVER – The Nos. 15 and 18 MSU Denver men's basketball team moved to 5-0 after surviving a scare from hot-shooting Seattle Pacific 77-75 on Friday night.
 
The Roadrunners trailed by three 75-72, with under 30 seconds to go, when junior Caleb McGill came up with a rebound and a putback off a missed free throw to cut the Falcons' lead to one. 

MSU Denver committed a foul and sent Seattle Pacific to the line to shoot a 1-and-1 free throw. Seattle Pacific failed to convert the free throw and MSU Denver gained possession before  Brayden Maldonado was fouled on a 3-point attempt. Maldonado converted on two of three to give the Roadrunners a one-point lead with 11 seconds left.

Seattle Pacific drove the length of the floor only to miss a shot with 2.7 seconds left. Ryan Maslow was fouled and added an additional free throw to seal the 77-75 victory.
 
McGill led all scorers with  22 points. Maldonado added 17 points while KJ Garrett and Mario Lacy, Jr. each chipped in with 12.  Lacy tallied another double-double while also grabbing a game-high 11 rebounds. 
 
Seattle Pacific had hot shooting hands the entire night.

The Falcons shot 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range (12 of 30) for the game.

In the end, the Roadrunners' performance at the free throw line proved to be the difference. MSU Denver sank 20 of 26.
 
MSU Denver will return to action on Saturday, when it takes on Simon Fraser (B.C.) at 3 p.m. at the Auraria Event Center.