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Home > Sports

Metro rallies vs. Mines in season finale

By Zac Taylor
ztaylor2@mscd.edu

Metro men’s basketball steamrolled to the end of the regular season on a six-game winning streak after rallying to knock off the Colorado School of Mines Feb. 22 at Auraria Events Center, giving the Roadrunners the sixth seed in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Tournament.

Metro rallied for the 66-64 win after falling behind by as many as 10 points to the Orediggers. ’Runners guards Terrell Burgess, Marquise Carrington and Guiseppe Ciancio kept Metro alive in the second half where the team nearly failed to close the point gap.

Senior starter Burgess came up big on Metro’s senior night and led the team in points with 19, including the winning layup with 1:10 remaining.

“When we need something generated offensively or defensively, he always comes along for us,” Ciancio said on Burgess’ clutch playmaking.

Burgess is one of three seniors on the Roadrunners, including forwards Hayden Smith and David Luedtke, who were recognized at the homecoming night festivities. Yet it was the two junior guards that made some of the most important plays of the night along with Burgess.

Metro’s second leading scorer, Carrington, had an off night with just eight points, but he showed signs of improved defense, including a crucial steal with under two minutes remaining to keep the Roadrunners in competition.

“The biggest thing was the defense getting those stops at the end,” Metro head coach Brannon Hays said.

Ciancio came off the bench for a career day against Mines, finishing with 16 points, including four 3- pointers that prevented an offensive collapse. The lack of offense was evident very early in the final regular season game, as the ’Runners scored just six points in the first 10 minutes. The Orediggers came to Auraria needing a win to make the playoffs, and the defense came out showing intensity. “This was definitely a playoff-type of game, playoff type of atmosphere,” Hays said. The Mines forwards denied the inside game, led by Chad Friehauf and Levi Hamilton, keeping Metro from the free-throw line early on. Ciancio jump-started the offense when he nailed a bucket from behind the arc at 10:22 remaining in the first half to break Metro from their six-point slump. The recharged ’Runners then treated the large homecoming crowd to a solid offensive performance, culminating in a 28-27 lead at the half.

“We pride ourselves on defense,” Ciancio said. “We knew our offense would come if our defense was poppin’.”

Early in the second half, Metro returned to their offensive slump and were down by 10 with 12:36 remaining. But they worked their way back to once again take the lead after Wagstaff made a layup with under two minutes remaining to make the score to 63-62. Mines forward Friehauf ran down the court for a layup and a brief Orediggers’ lead, but it would prove to be their last. Burgess sunk the go-ahead layup and the Roadrunners cracked down defensively.

“The guys showed a lot of resiliency,” Hays said. “(They) went through some hard times, had a hard time scoring for a little while. They just kept battling and battling and made some plays defensively and won the game.”

No. 6 Metro travels next to Lakewood to face No. 3 Colorado Christian in the first round of the RMAC Shootout. The ’Runners split the season series with the Cougars, most recently rallying to win 80-77 Feb. 19 at Auraria Events Center.

“We’ve got the momentum, which will help us going into the playoffs for sure,” Smith said. “We’re finally starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel.”