CHADRON, Neb. – MSU Denver survived and advanced Friday night with an 88-84 road victory at Chadron State and moved back into a tie for fourth place in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
 
The Roadrunners (17-8 overall, 11-8 RMAC) led for most of the game and built a 68-59 advantage with 12:41 to go, but Chadron State cut the deficit to one point three different times in the closing minutes.
 
Brayden Maldonado and Caleb McGill combined to make six free throws in the final 1:33 as MSU Denver won for the sixth time in its last eight games.
 
"For us, with two guys out with injuries in the second half, and to hold them off with seven guys – that's a great road win," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "It's a 'March' win. Survive and advance and go play another day."
 
Before the clinching free throws, MSU Denver was 6 of 15 at the line in the second half.
 
Maldonado led the Roadrunners with 19 points and five steals but was supported by four others who scored in double figures.
 
Quave Propst-Allison and Ryan Maslow each had huge games for the Roadrunners, scoring 16 points apiece – Propst-Allison's total matched his career high, while for Maslow it was his MSU Denver high.
 
"Brayden, Quave and Ryan were huge for us, both offensively and defensively, but especially on the defensive end," Ficke said. "They helped us get stops and steals and rebounds when we needed them."
 
Propst-Allison shared the team lead with six rebounds, led the team with three assists and had three steals – all in a span of 1:50 in the first half that led directly to fast-break buckets, two of them Propst-Allison layups, the other a Maslow 3.
 
"Early in the game we were playing a little too slow, more at the pace they wanted us to play at," Ficke said. "But Quave got up into guys defensively."
 
While Propst-Allison was 7 of 8 from the field Maslow was 6 of 7, including 2 of 3 from 3. He also had three steals – the Roadrunners had a season-high 12 pilfers.
 
"It's going to be huge for us now that Ryan is seeing shots go in and has his confidence back," Ficke said.
 
McGill scored 12 points and Mario Lacy, Jr., added 10 to go with six rebounds.
 
MSU Denver returns to the Denver area for a 7 p.m. game Saturday at Colorado Christian. The Cougars' Friday home game against Colorado School of Mines was postponed due to a "facility issue" that arose during pre-game warmups.