DENVER – MSU Denver left no doubt that it is ready, willing and able to make some noise in the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
Now, the Roadrunners just have to make sure they can get there.
 
MSU Denver pushed Nos. 2 and 6 Fort Lewis to the limit Friday night, ultimately falling 94-91 in a game where the level of frustration felt shouldn't be as high as the amount of confidence gained.
 
"I told them, if they don't believe in how good they are now … how can you not be after playing a team that's one of the best in the country to a one-possession game?" MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said.
 
Now, though, Saturday's regular-season finale against Adams State becomes even more important than Friday's setback, because MSU Denver is on the bubble for the Division II South Central Regional field of eight and can't afford a slip-up against the second-division Grizzlies if it hopes to receive an at-large big to the NCAA Tournament – and the Roadrunners will likely need to pick up a road win in the first round of the conference tournament, too.
 
"The most important thing is progress, and we definitely did that today," senior guard Luke Jones said. "Luckily the season isn't over, and we have every intention of seeing them again a week from now. It was a tough loss, but we've got some more to go."
 
Unofficially, the loss that dropped MSU Denver to 18-9 overall and 12-9 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference appears to have pushed them out of contention for the fourth seed and a first-round home game for the league tournament.
 
Black Hills State improved to 13-8 with a win Friday, and even if it loses Saturday, and even though the Yellow Jackets and Roadrunners split during the season, Black Hills State appears to have clinched the fourth seed. The Yellow Jackets have the third tiebreaker advantage over MSU Denver due to a win over third-place Colorado School of Mines.
 
(The second tiebreaker, a "performance indicator" where each win and loss is assigned a point value depending on the quality of the opponent and the location, would also wind up in a tie between Black Hills State and MSU Denver, while Black Hills State would have the advantage should it tie Regis at 13-9.)
 
Regis is also 12-9 in the RMAC, but MSU Denver's head-to-head win would give them the tiebreaker for the fifth seed over the Rangers. However, an MSU Denver loss and a Regis win on Saturday would drop MSU Denver to sixth.
 
But never fear, the Roadrunners said.
 
"I'm so confident in this group right now," forward Caleb McGill said. "We're all playing well. We're all connected in that locker room. I have no doubt that tomorrow we'll come out and do what we do."
 
All of this preamble overshadows what was a thrilling college basketball game before a raucous crowd of 1,066 at the Auraria Event Center.
 
There was virtually no statistical separation between the teams – Fort Lewis made one more field goal, MSU Denver made one more 3-pointer, and Fort Lewis made two more free throws. Fort Lewis had one more rebound and one fewer turnover.
 
"We just couldn't get the stops when we needed them," Ficke said. "We were scoring, but in a game like that it's ultimately who gets that final stop, and they were able to get the last one."
 
If there were bonus points for dunks, then the nine throwdowns by the Roadrunners would've helped them win going away.
 
"We wanted to pride ourselves on living in the paint and being aggressive in there," McGill said. "Our guards did a great job of breaking their press and finding me, Rio (Mario Lacy, Jr.) and Caden (Holmes) – and getting out and running. It all stems from the way our guards find us and playing off that. We just got super easy looks."
 
Fort Lewis (25-2, 20-1) led by 10 with 8:37 left, but MSU Denver clawed back.
 
Jones, who scored a career-high 17 points, knocked down a 3-pointer to cut a six-point deficit in half, 85-82 with 3:41 left. Fort Lewis scored quickly, but the Roadrunners scored just as quickly with yet another Lacy dunk.
 
Two tough baskets by Junior Garbrah gave Fort Lewis a 91-84 lead with 1:30 left.
 
But Brayden Maldonado hit a 3, the Roadrunners got a stop and Lacy dunked again (his sixth of the night), and suddenly it was 91-89 with 30.6 seconds left.
 
Fort Lewis made one free throw, then McGill dunked to make it 92-91 with 9.7 seconds left.
 
Garbrah hit two free throws with 9.0 to go, but MSU Denver's bid to tie on a 3-point try from the corner was thwarted when the crosscourt pass was tipped away.
 
Still, with 1.1 seconds left, Fort Lewis struggled to make its inbounds pass and MSU Denver was unable to get off a shot after making a steal.
 
"We never gave in, never put our heads down, we just kept chipping away," Ficke said.
 
McGill, the 6-foot-8 junior, was outstanding with 22 points on 10 of 11 shooting, and eight rebounds.
 
"Caleb answered the call time and again tonight," Ficke said. "He was extremely efficient. He was determined. If he plays like that tomorrow and the games we have left and if we can fire on all cyclinders, we're going to be a dangerous out in the tournament."
 
Four others, including Jones with 17, were in double figures – Lacy had 15, KJ Garrett 12 and freshman Holmes provided a huge first-half lift while scoring 10.
 
"It's a disappointing one, but I'm proud of the way the guys fought and competed," Ficke said.