Season-ending surge Men’s basketball sweeps road finale, earns home game in RMAC tourney By Matt Gunn gunnma@mscd.edu

Photo by William Moore - moorwill@mscd.edu

Metro guard Greg Muth drives past Colorado School of Mines player Bill Hadley on Saturday during a 62-53 Roadrunners win.

“Just knowing that it’s the end of the season, we had to lay it on the line. Every game counts now.”
Drew Williamson

   The Roadrunners men’s basketball team won its final road games of the regular season last weekend, and in doing so secured a home game in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout.
   Metro beat Colorado Christian University 69-58, then finished the season with a 62-53 win over Colorado School of Mines. In winning both games, the ‘Runners finished the season 19-8 overall, and 13-6 in the RMAC.
   Senior Drew Williamson led the Roadrunners’ offense both nights and was awarded his third RMAC Player-of-the-Week honor of the season.
   “ Just knowing that it’s the end of the season, we had to lay it on the line,” Williamson said. “Every game counts now.”
   The Roadrunners pounced on the Cougars early and gained enough of a lead in the first half, 31-21, to sustain momentum through the second.
   Although the Cougars narrowed the lead to single digits at times, they never built enough defensive momentum to slow the Runners’ big scorers down.
   Williamson provided 20 points and four steals against Colorado Christian. Freshman Jesse Wagstaff added 13 points, while Junior Michael Bahl scored 12.
   “ They came out with a good effort, and they’re tough at home,” Wagstaff said. “They’ve got a great crowd here that really gets into it, and I think that’s a big factor.”
   Metro shot 49 percent from the field in the win. The Roadrunners also beat the Cougars by out-rebounding them 33-26.
   The next night, the ‘Runners’ defense and lack of turnovers were the difference in their nine-point victory over the Orediggers.    Metro’s strong first half performance of 35-19 made the difference against Mines.
   “I thought the preparation was good,” head coach Mike Dunlap said. “I thought it showed tonight, especially on the defensive end.”
   Metro led by as many as 18 points in the second half, but the Orediggers surged late in the game outscoring them 34-27.
   The Runners’ fought back the second half explosion by losing only seven turnovers and outscoring Mines 17-8 on the giveaways.
   “They just made it hard for us to score, and we put out so much energy to get that lead in the first half defensively,” Dunlap said. “It was just a matter of ‘can we hold their surge off?’ And we did. We did a nice job on the boards with the big lineup.”
   The Orediggers turned to fouling the Roadrunners in a final attempt to slow Metro’s momentum. Both Kyle Pape and Davey Iverson of Mines fouled out with minutes remaining.
   Williamson, who scored 19 points and had a pair of steals, led the Roadrunner offense. Senior Greg Muth scored 14 points and added four assists. Bahl went five-for-nine and scored 13.
   The win secured Metro’s position as the No. 4 seed in the RMAC Shootout. The Roadrunners shared an identical record with Mesa State College, but earned the right to host the first-round game against the Mavericks.
   “ We’ve got Mesa State, and it’s great to have some momentum going into that game,” Muth said.