Home > Sport

Metro finishes perfect at home in easy conference wins
Roadrunners reach 14 straight victories as seniors honored
By Nick Tacinas
tacinas@mscd.edu

Photo by Jason Small • jsmall4@mscd.edu Guard Marquise Carrington, left, gets stopped in his tracks by UC-Colorado Springs guard Nic Fuller, right, in Metro’s 83-67 victory Feb. 9 at the Auraria Events Center. Carrington scored a career-high 27 points.

The Roadrunners men’s basketball team (21-2, 15-1 RMAC), ranked fourth in the national Division II coaches’ poll, outpaced their opponents 169-128 in the final two home games at the Auraria Events Center. The ’Runners finished with an unblemished record (16-0) at home and have reeled off 14 straight wins.

On Feb. 9, the Roadrunners beat up on the UC-Colorado Springs 83-67, the second victory against the Lions in two weeks. The ’Runners were fast out of the gate, starting the game with a 21-3 run led by guard Marquise Carrington’s career-high 27 points.

“They were focusing on Mike (Bahl), so it leaves open opportunities for us,” Carrington said. “So it’s all about them trying to stop Mike.”

Metro guard Joe Ciancio also had a career-high 12 points, and Bahl added 11 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

Carrington said it was not quite an A-game performance, but it was close, and better than the 87-82 victory they snuck away with at UC-Colorado Springs on Jan. 27.

This time around the Lions were rattled by the Roadrunners’ pressure defense.

“We played our man-zone defense, but we did a better job of matching up this time,” Bahl said.

The Roadrunners forced 28 turnovers but committed 21.

“If we want to go where we want to go, we have to get the other team by at least 12 turnovers,” Bahl said. “We tried to stop the middle — the middle pass on the press — for the most part. We did a good job, but they got loose a couple times.”

The ’Runners did a good job of containing guard Patrick Hannaway, the Lions’ best player, to 20 points, five assists and six rebounds. Hannaway left with an ankle injury with 11:45 remaining in the second half.

“The Springs is a good team,” Metro head coach Brannon Hays said. “They have a lot of firepower and they kept surging, and our de fense kept making the stops when we needed the stops. To pressure the ball and see if we could create some turnovers, that’s what we did early in the game.”

Feb. 10 was senior night at the Auraria Events Center, and the home crowd saw the men’s basketball team dominate the Regis Rangers 86-61.

The first half was capped off by a 23-6 scoring run by the Roadrunners, who held a 40-20 lead at the half.

“We made better decisions just making the simple pass that keyed our offense,” Hays said. “When we deviate from that, we turn the ball over a lot more. When we stay with that, the turnovers are down.”

Bahl scored 17 points, and guard Terrell Burgess had 12 points. Forward Willison Price finished with eight points and six rebounds.

The Rangers attempted to attack Metro by out-muscling the ’Runners, but Price said that is why they lift weights.

“We bang at practice for nights like tonight,” Price said.

Regis was led by star senior Brandon Butler, who had 31 points and 10 rebounds in the team’s last meeting on Jan. 26.

“We tried to keep his points down,” center Moussa Coulibaly said.

Butler was banged around this time by the two Metro senior centers, and was frustrated by the team’s defense as he was held to 25 points and five rebounds.

“Me and Moussa bang with each other every single day at practice for two years,” Price said about the years of preparation for these moments.

Coulibaly and Price have spent the past two seasons together playing for Metro and have stood side-by-side through the hardships.

“We both kind of grew,” Coulibaly said. “We went through some hard times together. It brought us really closer together. We are like brothers now.”

Four senior Roadrunners were honored with flowers and plaques prior to the game. Bahl, Price, Coulibaly and guard Benas Veikalas played their last regular season game at the Auraria Events Center.

“Senior night is not about the seniors,” Price said. “It’s about the seniors giving back to these guys from all these hard practices and all these games up to this point. So tonight I just wanted to give back to all my teammates and the fans for so much support.”

Coulibaly has come a long way from Bamako, Mali, to contribute to the nationally ranked Roadrunners and make his mark on one of the best teams in Division II.

“It was definitely the best experience of my life,” Coulibaly said. “I would not trade it in for nothing. I can’t be thankful enough, and I don’t have anything to pay back except to work my butt off on the court.”

Bahl leads the team in points per game, (15.7) and Veikalas averages 9.6 ppg. Bahl plans to be a student coach next season until he obtains his degree in education.

Metro takes their 14-game winning streak on the road to Nebraska, where they will play Chadron State Feb. 15 and Nebraska-Kearney Feb. 17.