DENVER – The 17^th-ranked men's basketball team were able to stay undefeated in the RMAC after holding off a furious second half by the Mountain Lions for the 88-81 win. 
 
The win improves the Roadrunners record to 14-2 overall and 8-0 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. UC-Colorado Springs falls to 10-6 overall and 4-4 in conference play. 
 
MSU Denver gave up 50 second-half points and allowed UCCS to hit on 52 percent from the field in the second frame. The Mountain Lions were able to get to within one point in the final six minutes, but the home team went 12-of-13 from the free throw line late in the fourth quarter to secure the victory. 
 
"I don't think we defended well at all. It was probably the worst field goal percentage defense of the season giving up 50 percent," Head coach Dan Ficke said. "But what we talked about after the game was that good teams find a way to win even when they don't play well."
 
It helps to have a deep bench, as Jamil Safieddine played 27 minutes off the bench and scored a season-high 24 points on 8-of-12 shooting. He was impactful in other aspects of the game grabbing five rebounds and handing out five assists.
 
"Jamil has done that countless times this year. When our bench plays well, we are typically winning big or able to win tough games," Coach Ficke said on the redshirt junior. "K.J. (Garrett) gave us some good minutes defensively, but Jamil did a little bit of everything; he made big shots and timely ones for us too."
 
"I feel great, my team got me open looks," Safieddine said. "I was prepared to shoot them. I just have to give it to my teammates for finding me."
 
There were five different Roadrunners who scored in double figures, which included another 20-point effort from Brayden Carter. Logan Threatt added 11 points, while Caleb McGill hit 10 points to go along with five rebounds and Quave Probst-Allison scored 10 points. 
 
MSU Denver will have a quick turnaround and play cross-town rival Regis University at home on Tuesday evening. The Rangers are sitting in the third spot of the RMAC standings and are 6-2 after defeating CSU-Pueblo by 33 points tonight. Roadrunners also have 8-0 Colorado School of Mines next Thursday on the road. 
 
"You know this a tough stretch," Coach Ficke said. "There's Christmas break and it's always a grind for these guys, as much as you think it would be great to be a pro for three or four weeks. They need that routine of class and school, the energy of people on campus, so we're excited to have school start up next week and get back to a normal routine. But we talked too that we need to get some rest, because we have two big ones next week.