Adversity at Auraria

Roadrunners fall to Mines in OT, recover against Colorado Christian

By Matt Gunn
gunnma@mscd.edu

The Roadrunners' 47-game win streak ended in a surprising 69-65 overtime loss to Colorado School of Mines Jan. 20, in one of the most exciting men's basketball games this season.

The loss was Metro's first since Jan. 23, 2003, against the University of Nebraska-Kearney. It also ended a season-high eight-game win streak. The 'Runners recovered the following evening against Colorado Christian.

"I'm very disappointed in the way I prepared our team to play tonight," head coach Mike Dunlap said after the loss. "That's my fault, and it also is a credit to Mines. They did a wonderful job tonight and they stuck a lot of big threes."

The Orediggers jumped to a 13-2 lead in the game's opening six minutes, while the Roadrunners struggled through an uncharacteristically slow start. Mines shot 61 percent from the field, and made few mistakes.

The 'Runners' offense came to life at 13:01 when they began an 18-7 run that tied the game at 20 with six minutes to play in the opening half. Mines again pulled away, and went into halftime with a 29-24 lead.

"It was exciting to be in that, but the game should have never been that way," senior Greg Muth said. "We came out slow. You've got to give credit to Mines. They hit their shots."

Metro fought all the way back at the start of the second half, and worked for a 30-29 lead off a layup by senior Drew Williamson. The lead changed again after the 'Runners committed a foul at 17:55.

Mines maintained a steady lead through the next 10 minutes of play with its balanced attack.

Four Orediggers scored in double digits, including guard Franklin Ryk, who went 5-5 from three-point range and scored 17 points.

It was a combined effort from Metro that got the Roadrunners back in the game. Senior Drew Williamson generated five steals and 13 points, most of which came in the second half. Junior Michael Bahl led all scorers with 18 points in 40 minutes of play.

Piece by piece, the 'Runners whittled away the Orediggers' seven-point lead late in the second half.

Senior Greg Muth tied the game at 5:46 with a deep three-pointer. He followed it up a minute later when he hit another three and was fouled on the shot.

Having completed the four-point play, Metro appeared to have taken away all of Mines' momentum.

The 'Runners built the lead to as many as eight points with 2:44 remaining, but the resilient Orediggers came back to life as time ran out.

Mines went on an 8-0 run, and tied the game with eight seconds in regulation.

Metro never had a lead in overtime, and the Orediggers ran on emotion to secure the win.

"I just think that it's a trophy when you beat us, and it's a credit to our program and our kids," Dunlap said after the game. "But, I think it's more that everybody wants to beat us."

Mines beat Metro underneath the basket. The Orediggers out-rebounded the Roadrunners 36-15, and outscored Metro 20-10 in the paint.

Metro followed the surprising loss with a 91-75 victory over Colorado Christian University.

For everything the 'Runners lacked on Friday, they made up for it the next night against Colorado Christian. Metro beat the Cougars on the boards 27-23, and generated 32 points off turnovers.

"We were hungry after last night," Williamson said upon beating the Cougars. "We were really disappointed and thought we shouldn't have lost. We took that hunger into tonight's game and it showed with our decisions."

Four Roadrunners scored in double digits against Colorado Christian, including freshman Marquise Carrington, who opened the game by going 4-4 from beyond the arc.

"It's pretty fun to finally get involved, because we shoot countless times a day," Carrington said. "We shoot many times and it's good to see that it's finally paying off."

Williamson led all scorers with 23 points, and grabbed four steals. He leads all NCAA Division-II players with an average of 4.4 steals per game. Bahl and Muth also had a good night against the Cougars, scoring 20 and 13 points, respectively.

Four Colorado Christian players scored in double digits as well, but the Cougars didn't have an answer for Metro's ability to score off turnovers.

"We knew it was going to be a tough game," Williamson said. "They were hungry as well, but we were prepared for this game, and we trusted in that preparation."