Roadrunners win 11th RMAC Shootout championship - Mar 9, 2014
No. 1 Metro State earned its 11th Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Shootout championship, topping UC-Colorado Springs 77-71 on Saturday night at the Auraria Event Center. The Roadrunners improved to 28-1 overall with their 25th consecutive win and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Mountain Lions fell to 21-8 overall.
It is the second consecutive RMAC Shootout title for the Roadrunners. No other school has more than four total championships.
Tournament most valuable player Nicholas Kay (6'9''-C-92) (Tamworth, Australia/Newington College) led the Roadrunners with 22 points, nine rebounds and four steals hitting 10-of-12 at the free throw line. Brandon Jefferson (5'9''-PG-91) (Flower Mound, Texas/Lewisville H.S.) added 21 points and Mitch McCarron (6'3''-G-92, college: Metro St.) (Brisbane, Australia/Genesis Christian College) had 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Jefferson and McCarron joined Kay on the all-tournament team.
Metro State overcame a minus-10 rebounding margin by forcing 17 turnovers and committing just seven. The Roadrunners also shot 40.3 percent from the floor, while limiting the Mountain Lions to 36.2 percent.
The first half was back-and-forth the entire way with five ties and eight lead changes, while neither team led by more than six points. The Roadrunners eventually pulled ahead for a 36-33 lead at the break behind 13 points from Jefferson. Metro State forced 11 turnovers and committed just three, but was outrebounded 21-to-15 and shot just 40 percent.
While Metro State led the entire second half, it took a 10-3 run to build a 10-point lead at 71-61 with 1:44 remaining, the largest lead of the game.
The Roadrunners made 6-of-8 at the free throw line in the final minute to seal the win.
UCCS was led by Derrick White (6'4''-G), who scored 33 points and made 18-of-18 at the line. He also led the Mountain Lions with nine points and five assists.
Courtesy of Metro State
RMAC Tournament Final: Metro State - UC-Colorado Springs 77-71 RMAC Tournament Semifinals: UC-Colorado Springs - Colorado Mines 75-70 Metro State - Fort Lewis 77-73
All-RMAC 1st Team 2014
Jefferson
Herrera
McCarron
Wages
White
All-Tournament MVP:
Nicholas Kay (6'9''-C-92) of Metro St. Player of the Year:
Brandon Jefferson (5'9''-PG-91) of Metro St. Defensive Player of the Year:
Alex Herrera (6'9''-C) of Fort Lewis Freshman of the Year:
Gokul Natesan (6'5''-G/F) of Colorado Mines Coach of the Year:
Derrick Clark of Metro St.
Clark
