DURANGO, Colo. – MSU Denver struggled from the field Saturday night and suffered an 83-67 loss to Nos. 4 and 15 Fort Lewis in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men's basketball.
 
The Roadrunners shot just 40.7 percent from the field (22 of 54) while making 30.8 percent from 3-point range (8 of 26). The Roadrunners also had 15 turnovers compared to just eight for Fort Lewis.
 
"We knew that, with the way they play, that we had to make 3s to have chance to win on the road against them," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "And 30 percent isn't good enough to win that game.
 
"They built their lead with rebounds of missed shots, converting off turnovers and us not converting the opportunities we had. We had some looks that we knew we'd get, but we didn't make enough of them from 3 and we've got to convert at the rim better."
 
Fort Lewis improved to 19-2 overall 14-1 in the RMAC. MSU Denver dropped to 13-7 and 7-7.
 
Fort Lewis built a 26-11 lead to start the game and kept the Roadrunners at a distance the rest of the way. The Roadrunners got no closer than eight points the rest of the first half and trailed by at least 11 for the entire second half.
 
"We just couldn't score in the first half," Ficke said. "We didn't handle their pressure well, and didn't execute offensively. We guarded fairly well overall – even though they shot 50 percent, we limited their 3s. But we didn't do a good enough job guarding the paint, and they made a living there – some of that was us taking their 3s away, but we've got to make it more difficult the next time we play them."
 
Brayden Maldonado led the Roadrunners with 23 points.
 
The Skyhawks were successful in keeping MSU Denver star forwards Caleb McGill and Mario Lacy, Jr., in check.
 
McGill, averaging 14.9 points, had 10 points, and only two of his six shot attempts were inside the 3-point line. Lacy, averaging 11.0 points and 9.1 rebounds, was scoreless and had only four rebounds.
 
"The way they press, we were in transition all night after we broke it, so we weren't able to run much offense," Ficke said.
 
MSU Denver returns home next weekend for key games Friday against South Dakota Mines and Saturday against Black Hills State.
 
"Fort Lewis is a really good team, and it's tough to win on the road," Ficke said. "A road split (MSU Denver won Friday night at Adams State) is good, and now we have to handle our home court next weekend."