Kings of the RMAC

Written by Kate Ferraro
(kferraro@mscd.edu)
Photo by Dawn Madura
(dmadura@mscd.edu)

Metro men’s basketball team rallied in the second half against Fort Lewis College to clinch the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference shootout title March 7 at the Colorado State Fair Events Center in Pueblo.

“I feel great,” forward Nelson Ekeh said. “This is one of the first times that I actually feel a little bit relaxed. The hard work all paid off, but this isn’t it. We’re ready to get right back after it next week.”

The Skyhawks led in the second half by four points and were on fire, scoring their next eight points to take a 12-point advantage, their biggest lead of the night at 65-53 with 12 minutes remaining. The Roadrunners then went on a 10-0 run with the help of two free throws by Ekeh, a jumper by forward Daniel Bass and Marquise Carrington’s first points of the night, cutting the Skyhawks’ lead to 65-63.

“We adjusted our defense a little bit,” head coach Brannon Hays said. “We changed our press and our matchup. It helped, just working our way back one possession at a time.”

Trailing 70-69 with less than six minutes to play, the Roadrunners scored the game’s next nine points. Forward Chris Robinson hit two free throws, while Wagstaff scored a layup, putting Metro ahead 73-70. After Bass pulled down a rebound, he was fouled by Fort Lewis forward Kirk Archibeque, who received his fifth personal foul and forced Fort Lewis’ leading scorer to sit on the bench the remainder of the game.

With 59 seconds left, the Skyhawks cut the Roadrunners’ lead to 78-75. Forward Brian Minor, Wagstaff and Carrington scored two free throws each in the final 48 seconds to seal the 84-78 victory. Hays said he believes the significant amount of seniors on the team helped the other players keep their focus, despite being down by 12 points.

“We’ve got six seniors,” Hays said. “They’ve been through quite a bit. The team knows how to win. The composure of the group is fantastic.”

The Roadrunners (18-1 in the RMAC, 27-3 overall) lost to the Skyhawks (13-6 in the RMAC, 24-9 overall) earlier in the season, and was one out of only three teams to defeat them.

Wagstaff led all scorers with 22 points and hit 9-of-12 at the line. As a team, the Roadrunners scored 33-of-38 at the line, while the Skyhawks only scored 20-of-36. Wagstaff was named RMAC Shootout MVP for the second time in his career. Ekeh and Donte Nicholas were also named to the All-tournament team. Carrington scored five points in the entire game, his lowest all season.

“I think Marquise’s game is deceiving,” Wagstaff said. “He can contribute in so many ways other than scoring. He’s an energy leader, a leader all around.”

Metro previously won their semifinal game against Colorado State University at Pueblo 76-65 March 6 in Pueblo.

The Roadrunners earned the No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will travel to Minnesota for the first round March 14 against the No. 6-seed Winona State. If the Roadrunners win, they will move on to the second round March 15 against either St. Cloud State or Augustana.
“I’m doing it for the seniors,” Nicholas said. “I know this year has been a lot of hard work. They’ve been doing it for four years. Whatever I can do to help them and keep the season going.”