LAS VEGAS, N.M. – Short-handed? No sweat.
The MSU Denver men's basketball team, with only eight players in uniform – two of whom weren't starting forwards
Caleb McGill and Mario Lacy, Jr., and their combined 26.8 points and 14.3 rebounds per game – were still able to get a gritty, 83-76 victory Friday night on the road at New Mexico Highlands.
"It was a great, gritty win," MSU Denver coach
Dan Ficke said. "The guys stepped up, and I couldn't be more proud of these eight guys. We started well (a 9-0 lead), weathered the storm (an early second-half deficit) and then took the game over in the second half."
The Roadrunners were undersized but undeterred in improving to 10-3 overall and 4-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Brayden Maldonado scored 16 of his 24 points in the second half as, despite playing 35 minutes, he seemed fresher than the Cowboys defenders who had hounded him in the first half.
"Brayden is our steady hand," Ficke said. "They were face guarding him, but he let the game come to him. He did a good job of finding open spots, and he didn't let them denying him stop him. He took advantage of that, made some good cuts, and we got him open better with what we ran the second half."
Luke Jones was huge off the bench with a career-high 15 points, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range, freshman forward
Caden Holmes – pressed into service for a career-high 26 minutes – scored a career-high 12 points, and point guard
KJ Garrett was hard to guard with 10 points and four assists.
Wing
Ryan Maslow pulled down a season-best and career-high tying eight rebounds to go with his seven points.
"Luke was phenomenal," Ficke said. "In the first half, he and Caden were both a little over-aggressive and got outside themselves, but they both buckled down in second half and took the right shots. They both made timely plays.
"KJ was phenomenal too, controlling the game and making great decisions, and Ryan was unbelievable on the glass."
The game was tied 33-33 at half and Highlands (7-7, 4-5) twice took a four-point lead early in the second half.
But a tough three-point play by Maldonado and back-to-back 3s by Jones capped an 11-0 run that put the Roadrunners ahead to stay at 52-44 with 12:11 left.
Highlands cut the deficit to 76-71 with 1:13 left, to 78-74 with 37 seconds to go, and to 79-76 with 18 seconds left, but Maldonado and Maslow combined to make four free throws to close it out after a flagrant foul and a technical foul were called on the Cowboys.
MSU Denver was 30 of 38 at the free throw line, converting its second-highest total of the season on a season high in attempts. It was the most free throws shot by the Roadrunners since a 96-91 win over Northwest Nazarene (Idaho) on Dec. 19, 2018, when they attempted 46.
"Our guys executed the game plan extremely well, and they bought into 'Us against the world' message we talked about in practice on Thursday when we knew those two guys wouldn't be with us," Ficke said. "We just had to find a way. As a coach, during COVID, I was in a situation like this, where we had seven guys and we won three out of four with guys playing out of position and being the best version of themselves. And that's what every guy did tonight."
The Roadrunners wrap up the weekend Saturday with a 6 p.m. game at CSU Pueblo (7-7, 3-5), which nearly upset Colorado School of Mines on Friday before falling in overtime.
"Hopefully they'll be deflated after playing Mines that tough and losing the way they did," Ficke said. "The second night is never easy in a back-to-back, especially when you have a short bench like we did. We'll have to keep guys fresh, control the tempo and platoon them in and out."
