LAKEWOOD, Colo. – MSU Denver shot 56.5 percent from the field in the second half and gradually overcame a three-point halftime deficit to defeat Colorado Christian 81-72 Saturday night in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball.
 
Caleb McGill scored 23 points and KJ Garrett tied his career best with a season-high 21 to lead the Roadrunners, who outscored the host Cougars 47-35 in the second half.
 
"Any time you go on the road in this league, you're always going to get the other team's best shot in the first half," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "I didn't think we had our best defensive effort in the first half, and we weren't playing at our pace.
 
"But we did a great job right after halftime of taking control and never looking back."
 
Colorado Christian, after shooting 56.0 percent from the field (14 of 25) in the first half, including 6 of 8 from 3-point range for 75.0 percent to take a 37-34 lead, shot just 36.1 percent in the second half (13 of 36), and was just 4 of 15 from 3 (26.7 percent) in the final 20 minutes.
 
MSU Denver took control with a 10-2 run, capped by a McGill 3, to lead 66-56 with 7:05 to go.
 
"Caleb was phenomenal," Ficke said. "He didn't fade away (on low-post shot attempts). He went to the basket, took their first bump and adjusted from there, and he hit some big 3s – the one to put us up by 10 was huge."
 
Both McGill and Garrett were 8 of 10 from the field and didn't miss from 3 (McGill made two, Garrett one).
 
Mario Lacy, Jr., added 15 points while making 6 of 8 from the field, and Quave Propst-Allison scored 10 while making 2 of 3.
 
Ryan Maslow had a team-high eight rebounds, and Brayden Maldonado had eight points, six rebounds and a team-best three assists.
 
MSU Denver improved to 18-8 overall and 12-8 in the RMAC.
 
The Roadrunners now have their best season win total since going 19-11 in 2015-16.
 
They return home for games Friday at 7 p.m. against nationally-ranked Fort Lewis and Saturday at 7 p.m. against Adams State to wrap up the regular season.
 
"We've got two more to get in the regular season," Ficke said. "It's exciting, but we're not looking at the number of wins or our seeding (for the RMAC Tournament). We're just focusing on each game and continuing to get better to get ready for the tournament."