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Metro obliterates opponents
'Runners stay atop RMAC with 12th consecutive victory
By Eric Lansing
lansing@mscd.edu

Photo by Johanna Snow • snowj@mscd.edu Metro forward Willison Price, center, takes it up against Chadron State’s big men. Eagles forward Marcus Ligons, left, and center Fernando Bonfim, right, attempt to block Price’s shot in a 96-58 victory for the Roadrunners Feb. 3 at the Auraria Events Center. Metro shot 54 percent from the field and 52.2 percent from 3-point range. The Roadrunners used a 30-0 run to win their 12th straight game.

The nationally ranked men’s basketball team welcomed Nebraska-Kearney Feb. 2 to the Auraria Events Center with a 97-75 thumping in a game in which the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference went head to head.

The Roadrunners sat in first place in the RMAC while the Lopers stood in second place. Both teams posted 11-1 records in the conference, and Kearney was actually picked to finish first according to the RMAC men’s basketball preseason poll.

But Metro sent a message to the rest of the conference with the remarkable blowout that may have this team’s confidence riding at a season high.

“I haven’t done this since my freshman year,” Bahl said. “I’ve played these guys 12 times in my career, and we’ve only beat them like this one other time. It shows what the group has done, the maturity we have and the sky’s the limit for this team.”

Five Roadrunners scored in double figures, including 19 points from forward Michael Bahl. Bahl played 35 minutes and shot 8-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-7 from 3-point range.

“We had a great shoot around this morning in practice,” Metro head coach Brannon Hays said. “The guys were focused and locked in, and it definitely carried over to tonight’s game.”

Nebraska-Kearney took an early 15-9 lead when Kearney guard Jeff Martin hit a 3-pointer. Martin had nine of the 15 points shooting 3-for-3 from downtown and finished the game with 15 points. All came from 3-point range.

But Metro fought back on a 22-4 run capped off by a Bahl 3-pointer that gave the Roadrunners a 12-point lead. The lead stretched to 14 in the first half when guard Terrell Burgess hit a 3-point shot at the 3:04 mark.

The ’Runners carried a 13-point lead into halftime and shot an amazing 55.9 percent from the field, 19-of-34, and 54.5 percent from long distance, 6-of-11, while holding the Lopers to only 42.9 percent from the field, including 4-of-14 from the perimeter.

Kearney usually shoots well from long range at 40 percent, but Metro’s full-court press and defensive pressure at the 3-point line took the Lopers out of their game.

Metro’s offense kept the lead in double digits for most of the second half, until Kearney forward Chad Burger hit a 3-point shot to cut the lead to 10 at the 9:13 mark. But the Roadrunners pushed the lead back out to 14 with consecutive baskets by forward Hayden Smith and guard Marquise Carrington.

“It’s always nice to play a good quality team the first time at home,” Hays said, knowing they will play Kearney again on the road Feb. 17 in Kearney, Neb. “I think home court does have an effect in our conference, and the guys were locked and ready to roll. Kearney kept making runs to try and get back in it, but we made key plays to push it back out.”

While Metro was shooting lights out from outside, Moussa Coulibaly was handling it from the inside as the senior center scored 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, most coming from the paint, where the Lopers had problems most of the night.

“It was a great win for us, as the guys were very emotional in the locker room,” Coulibaly said. “There was a lot of hard work that was put in for this time. It shows we can go really, really far, and against Kearney, who is one of the top teams in the RMAC, and for us to beat them by 20 is something special.”

“It’s been a long time for Moussa,” Bahl said about his African teammate. “He hasn’t been home in seven years. He’s been in Colorado working his butt off for two years, nonstop, every day, and it’s starting to pay off.”

The electricity that Metro brought against the mighty Lopers carried over to the next night against the reeling Eagles of Chadron State.

The Roadrunners used a 30-0 run and 62 first-half points to crush Chardon State 96-58 Feb. 3 at the Auraria Events Center.

Metro sizzled from the field, shooting 65.7 percent in the first half while the defense held the Eagles scoreless for nine minutes. The ’Runners scored 30 unanswered points in those nine minutes and ran Chadron State out of the building before the first half was even over.

Bahl had 15 points, including 14 in the first half, while Carrington scored all of his 10 points in the first half while also dishing out nine assists. He had eleven on the night.

The two RMAC wins improve Metro’s record to 19-2 overall and 12-1 in the conference. The Roadrunners will host their homecoming games with UC-Colorado Springs on Feb. 8 and Regis on Feb. 9, with both games being played at the Auraria Events Center.