Box Score DENVER, Colo. – No. 4 seeded Regis University (20-9, 14-8 RMAC) lost their first-round matchup 80-73 to the No. 5 Metropolitan State University-Denver Roadrunners (17-12, 12-10 RMAC) in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Tournament on Tuesday night.
Freshman
Christian Little had a fantastic game for Regis on his way to a career-high 20 points on 6-of-9 (1-1 3- PT) shooting from the field grabbing three rebounds and nabbing three steals.
How It Happened: This cross-town rivalry lived up to just that as neither team backed down playing out every single possession on both ends. The Rangers jumped out to an early 7-0 lead and then 13-6 at the first media timeout of the game.
The Roadrunners surged midway through the first half with a 10-3 run to take a 31-29 lead. King hit his fourth three-pointer of the game as time nears the break to bring RU within two, 37-35 at halftime.
Regis struggled with an aggressive MSU Denver full-court press that resulted in a quick 5-0 run that extended the visitors lead to 45-40 at the first media timeout of the second half. Brodbeck drained a three on a fast break that locked the score at 47-47 with 13:33 to play in the game.
The score tied for the fifth time since the 13:33 mark when Little got in on the three-point action knocking down just his fourth of the year. Back-to-back Roadrunner three's put the visitors back in the driver's seat, 71-67 with just under five minutes to play.
Four straight points and a free throw from Senior
Noah King brought the Rangers within two points 72-74, but the visitors knocked down four out of four free throws down the stretch to close out the game 80-73.
Game Notes: King finished the night with 18 points (6-13 FG, 4-9 3-PT), grabbing four rebounds and dishing out three assists. Junior
Dexter Sienko added 14 points (4-9 FG) and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. RU shot the ball at a 40.4 percent clip on the night, going 7-of-23 from three-point land, but they were outrebounded 39-32 on the night. Both teams grabbed ten offensive boards, but it was the bench scoring that put Regis away at the end as MSU-Denver had 33 bench points to 13 from the Rangers.
Next Up for the Rangers: The men's basketball team is currently ranked No. 8 in the region where the top eight teams advance to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II Tournament. The selection show will take place on Sunday, March 5 to determine which teams will compete for a National Championship.
