DENVER – For MSU Denver, Senior Night turned out all right.
 
"It was a typical Senior Night game, especially coming off such an emotional, hard-fought game with a disappointing finish last night (against Fort Lewis)," MSU Denver coach Dan Ficke said. "Then you come back to Senior Night and it has its own emotions wrapped around it. That's four guys who have contributed a lot to this program. I'm glad we could get a win and finish the season the right way."
 
Mario Lacy, Jr., Luke Jones, Camden Smithburg and Jake Chrisman were honored in a pregame ceremony before a 97-90 win Saturday over Adams State to wrap up the regular season.
 
 While Lacy was in his customary starting forward slot and Chrisman was out with an injury, Jones and Smithburg were rewarded with spots in the starting lineup. It was the third start of Jones' career, including his first this season, while it was the first start ever for Smithburg, a walk-on.
 
"I was like, 'Oh yeah,' I remember what this is like,'" Jones said. "And we got off to a good start. My boy Camden Smithburg was out there with me, and it was just good to see the fellow seniors out there with me.
 
"I was definitely feeling emotional, and I'm glad the game got going because otherwise I wouldn't have been in the right head space. I'm so grateful and so appreciative for it, for every last person in this building has been part of what my MSU Denver journey was."
 
MSU Denver jumped out to a 10-0 lead before Jones and Smithburg were subbed out.
 
"At practice this morning (Ficke) said, 'Cam, go out there with the starters,'" Smithburg said. "I'm glad I got to do that. It was a cool experience.
 
"I loved having family and friends there. These guys I'm playing with are my brothers, and getting to go out and play with them and be with them and experience that was a great night. And I'm glad we got the win."
 
Chrisman was slated for backup duties again this season but has been out since late November.
 
"I'm very thankful for all the opportunities I've gotten, and all the people I've met," he said. "It's a cliché, but if it wasn't for basketball I wouldn't have even gone to school, and now I'm going to finish with a double major, so that's kind of the big picture.
 
"Ficke says the ball always stops bouncing, whether we like it or not. It's not the way I wanted it to stop, but it happens to everyone eventually. I'm glad for the time I've had here and the memories I've made, and I'm looking forward to that next chapter."
 
Lacy, who ranks third among active Division II players in rebounds, reached 1,000 for his career early in the second half. His 11-rebound night puts his career total at 1,003.
 
"It's a great accomplishment for me," Lacy said. "You don't hear about many people getting 1,000 rebounds. The fact that I got it, even if it is my fifth year, I'm proud of myself."
 
Lacy started his career at Urbana (Ohio), then transferred to Belmont Abbey (N.C.), where Ficke was the head coach, when Urbana closed its doors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lacy played three years at Belmont Abbey, including last season after Ficke took the MSU Denver job.
 
"Tonight was great," Lacy said. "I'm here with the coach I started with at Belmont. I love the fans here, and I love MSU Denver, the atmosphere. It was a great experience for me."
 
Said Ficke: "I'm so proud of that kid, all that he's accomplished since I've known him, coming from a very difficult background to be where he is today, having already graduated from one college and getting a certificate here. And now he has 1,000 rebounds and hopefully he gets to 1,500 points as we make our run through the (RMAC) tournament."
 
MSU Denver, 19-9 overall, finished fifth in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference at 13-9 and will play at fourth-place Black Hills State on Tuesday in the first round of the league tournament. Each team won a lopsided decision on its home floor when the teams played in the regular season.
 
On Saturday, the Roadrunners took leads of 12-0 and 14-3 before Adams State got back into it. The Grizzlies held several two-point second-half leads, the last at 57-55 with 13:36.
 
"We had a great start," Ficke said. "The seniors did a great job of starting us off on the right foot. But we weren't able to sustain it – I don't think our mental focus was there on either end of the floor in the first half. And once you give a team confidence, especially in this league, it's going to be a night. I'm proud of our guys for being resilient and finding a way to win."
 
MSU Denver went on a 27-8 run to lead 82-65 with 6:40 left, and though Adams State hit a flurry of late 3-pointers, the Roadrunners were never seriously challenged the rest of the way.
 
The Roadrunners had seven players score in double figures, believed to be the first for the program since eight players had 10 or more on Dec. 19, 2003, in a 128-51 win over Bethany (Kan.). For the curious, it was Lester Strong, Michael Morse, C.J. Massingale, Keith Borgan, Jamar Bohannon, Greg Muth, Benas Veikalas and Michael Bahl – all scoring between 11 and 14 points – who were in double-digits that night, while program legends Mark Worthington, Luke Kendall and Ben Ortner were not.
 
On Saturday, Caleb McGill scored 26 points on 10 of 14 shooting from the field, Brayden Maldonado scored 15 and Lacy had 14 while posting the 29^th double-double of his career, including his ninth this season.
 
KJ Garrett and Ryan Maslow each scored 11, while Jones and Quave Propst-Allison each had 10.
 
"That's our ultimate goal and the way we want to play," Ficke said. "We want to play uptempo and unselfish, and in the games last night and tonight you saw that come to fruition, especially offensively. When you can do that, it makes you a tough team to beat."