Home > Sport

Metro holds off Mountaineers
Carrington's 16 points leads 'Runners to 4-1 record in conference
By Eric Lansing
lansing@mscd.edu

Metro used a balanced attack on offense and a career-high 16 points from Marquise Carrington to defeat Western State 81-71 on Jan. 4 in Gunnison, Colo.

Along with Carrington’s total, the No. 17-ranked Roadrunners had three other players in double figures and two others with nine points each in winning their fourth straight game and their seventh in eight contests.

“We have not had one player win the player of the week in the RMAC,” head coach Brannon Hays said about his team’s play throughout the season. “It shows the strength of our team. We have really good balance, and we are learning to be patient.”

Forward Jesse Wagstaff had 14 points and six rebounds. Guards Benas Veikalas and Terrell Burgess added 10 points each, and forward Michael Bahl scored nine points and pulled down eight rebounds for the Roadrunners.

The first half belonged to Metro, who outscored the Mountaineers 43-27 and shot 50 percent from the field, including 6-9 from 3-point range. Carrington played a huge part by scoring 14 of his 16 points in the first half.

“Carrington is starting to mature,” Hays said. “He is really making a push and it is starting to pay off in his game and for our team.”

Metro carried their momentum into the second half, extending their lead to 22 with 9:13 to play. Then Western State regrouped and went on an eight-minute 24-11 run to cut the lead to seven with 1:07 to go. Mountaineers guard Josh Kollasch led the way by scoring nine points, and forward Brandon Gilbreath added seven points of his own.

Hays said he is always concerned about his team giving up leads late in games but was happy that his team could build a 20-point lead on the road against a tough Western State home team. Hays added that as the season progresses, his young team is learning to put teams away.

That maturity showed as the Mountaineers had to foul for the remainder of the game and rely on the Roadrunners to miss free throws. But Metro, who are second in the RMAC in free-throw percentage at 72 percent, preserved the win by going 5-6 from the stripe.

For the game, Metro outshot Western State 51 percent to 38 percent from the field while shooting an amazing 61 percent from downtown, going 8 for 13 from the 3-point arc. The Mountaineers relied too much on the long ball, attempting 25 3-pointers and only making seven.

“Our team showed their resiliency by bringing the lead back out,” Hays said. “We didn’t panic and we finished strong to end the game.”

The win improves Metro’s overall record to 11-2 and 4-1 in the RMAC. They face off against New Mexico Highlands Jan. 12 at the Auraria Events Center.