Metro 65 – Mines 67
Metro 76 – CCU 64
Metro’s nine-game winning streak ended abruptly Jan. 29 against Colorado School of Mines, 65-67 at the Auraria Events Center.
“We came out flat,” Metro guard Donte Nicholas said. “To put it plain and simple, we didn’t come out with the energy we needed to. We can’t afford to take nights off because everybody is going to give us their best game, and we’ve got to be better prepared for this. We’ll take this loss, and we’ll learn from it.”
In the first half against Mines, Metro jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first 1:55. Metro then became sluggish defensively, allowing three-point shot after three-point shot. However, Metro managed to score 14 points off of turnovers to lead Mines, 30-28 at the half.
At halftime, Metro shot 10-24, including 9-11 from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, Mines was only shooting 9-22 as a team, including 5-22 from beyond the arc.
In the second half, the game turned sour for the Roadrunners. Metro shot 10-30 from the floor, including 13-20 from the free-throw line. Mines took advantage of Metro’s poor shooting by going on a 9-2 run to tie the game at 47 with 9:07 remaining.
Metro guard Brian Minor drives to the basket against the Colorado School of Mines Sean Armstrong Jan. 29 at the Auraria Event Center. The Orediggers beat the Roadrunners 67-65, breaking Metro’s nine-game winning streak. Photo by Jason Bahl • jbahl5@mscd.edu
Mines drained a three-point shot with 4:07 left to take the lead, 58-56. The Orediggers maintained their lead to win the game, 67-65.
“Mines played very well in the second half,” Head Coach Brannon Hays said. “They shot the ball well. Offensively, our goal was to get the ball in the paint, which we did. Unfortunately we missed 16 of those shots. We had a lot of good looks there, and we’ve just got to cash in on them.”
In the second half, Mines shot 13-24 from the floor and 22-46 overall, including 6-18 from the three-point line. Metro shot 20-54 overall and committed 12 turnovers. Nicholas led the team with a game-high 28 points and had four steals.
“We were over-rotating a little bit defensively tonight; we were getting out of position defensively at different times,” Hays said. “We’ve got to do what we do, play by our defensive rules, so we can get our stops and not give up easy baskets.”
Metro quickly rebounded the following afternoon against Colorado Christian University, 76-64, and was a career game for Nicholas.
Nicholas scored a game-high 36 points, shooting 11-15 from the floor, including 4-4 from the three-point line and 10-12 from the free throw line.
“Yesterday [Jan. 29], we just came out a little lack-luster,” Nicholas said. “We didn’t come out with the energy that we should have had. We’ve got to bring our ‘A’ game every game because everybody’s going to bring their ‘A’ game. Every game is a national championship game for them. When they won, you could see how they celebrated.”
Metro is now 16-3 this season, including 9-2 in the RMAC and will go on a four-game road trip, starting Feb. 4 at Nebraska-Kearney, before coming back home for the final four games of the season.
