Box Score DENVER – After an early season letdown loss at Black Hills State, MSU Denver flipped the script Saturday, dominating the most of the final 30 minutes for a 75-58 victory.
 
"We did a good job of playing to our pace," forward Caleb McGill said. "Once we started to speed up the game, it all fell into a rhythm for us on offense."
 
Forward Mario Lacy, Jr., echoed McGill's thoughts.
 
"We played at our pace, fast, not being stagnant and standing still like we did at their place," Lacy said. "Everybody was doing what they had to do, cutting, setting screens, rolling hard, making shots … it was a great win for us."
 
MSU Denver improved to 15-7 overall and 9-7 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play, and is now tied for fourth with Black Hills State in the league standings.
 
The top four teams at the end of the regular season host first-round games in the RMAC Tournament. So, if the season ended today, then Saturday's meeting was a preview of a first-round matchup between teams that would be seeded fourth and fifth.
 
And MSU Denver had a lot to like about Saturday.
 
The 6-foot-8 duo of McGill (19 points, seven rebounds) and Lacy (15 points, eight rebounds, two blocked shots) controlled the inside, frequently scoring on post-ups.
 
"That's our bread and butter, and you can throw Marzouq (Ibn Abdur-Razaaq) in there with them," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "We wanted to attack inside, beat them up inside, and then once they started to overhelp or double, make the right play out of it.
 
"And I thought those guys did that. They forced a couple (shots) here or there, but they probably earned it with the way they rebounded."
 
Abdur-Razaaq chipped in with seven points and a career-high nine rebounds for the Roadrunners who were plus-15 (41-26) in rebounds, their third-best result of the season.
 
Speed-first point guard KJ Garrett helped the Roadrunners play at their preferred pace and finished with 13 points, as did his backcourt running mate, Brayden Maldonado.
 
MSU Denver made 47.3 percent (26 of 55) from the field for the game, including 52.4 percent (11 of 21) in the second half.
 
"When we play with pace, I think we're as hard to guard as anyone in our league," Ficke said.
 
Black Hills State, meanwhile, shot just 36.8 percent (21 of 57) from the field, including 30 percent (9 of 30) in the in the second half. The Yellow Jackets also made just 1 of 11 from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes.
 
RMAC scoring leader Matthew Ragsdale, who burned MSU Denver for 32 points while taking just 18 field goal attempts in the December meeting, was held to 13 points on 12 shots.
 
"It was a phenomenal defensive effort from our guys, especially keeping Ragsdale – who is such a prolific scorer – to 13 when he had 32 last time on us, and against (Hoku) Fisher, who's been hot," Ficke said. "I thought this was the best execution of a game plan that we've had since probably the Regis game (Jan. 20)."
 
MSU Denver had lost eight of the previous nine matchups with Black Hills State, including six straight.
 
"When we look at this league and where we're trying to go, Black Hills, (Colorado School of) Mines, (Colorado) Mesa and Fort Lewis are the top tier of the league," Ficke said. "And to get to that level, we've got to beat those guys.
 
"It was great to get this one done and I'm really proud of what our guys did on both sides of the ball."
 
Said McGill: "They're a winning program with a winning culture. It feels good to get over the hump against them, and there are a lot of other teams we want to do that against, too."