Pueblo – Michael Bahl scored 21 points to lead No. 5 Metro State to a 73-58 victory over Fort Lewis in the semifinals of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference men’s basketball tournament Saturday at the State Fair Events Center.
Jesse Wagstaff added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Roadrunners (26-3).
Tim Bieri led Fort Lewis (22-8) with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
Fort Lewis jumped to a 10-4 advantage in the opening minutes. But Metro State rallied, shooting 52 percent from the floor in the first half for a 37-33 lead at intermission.
After the Skyhawks cut Metro’s lead to three early in the second half, the Roadrunners went on a run to push their lead to 13.
Metro State forced 21 turnovers and Fort Lewis shot just 5-for-24 from 3-point range.
ADAMS STATE 97, NEBRASKA-KEARNEY 90, OT: Adams State outscored Nebraska-Kearney 23-16 in overtime in the Grizzlies’ first tournament win over the Lopers.
Adams State (16-12) had lost 18 consecutive tournament games to Kearney (23-6) and earned just its second tournament win since joining Division II.
The Grizzlies, who earned an automatic NCAA D-II Tournament bid, will face Metro State in the RMAC championship today at 2 p.m.
Roman Moniak led Adams State with 33 points and Marcus Mortensen and Wes Jensen added 19 points apiece. Dusty Jura paced Kearney with 33 points and 20 rebounds and Chad Burger added 27.
Women
No. 17 Regis got 23 points and 13 rebounds from Denise Lopez and used a solid second half to eliminate Nebraska-Kearney 79-71 in the semifinal round of the RMAC Tournament in Pueblo.
Regis (24-5) will face Metro State (26-3) in today’s championship at noon. The Roadrunners defeated CSU-Pueblo 67-55 in the other semifinal. The teams have split two games this season.
The Rangers swept three games from Nebraska-Kearney (20-9) this season after turning a 31-31 halftime tie into an eight-point second-half advantage.
Diana Lopez added 15 points and 10 rebounds for Regis and Stevi Seitz finished with 19 points.
Jade Meads led Kearney with 21 points and Liz Fischer added 14.
METRO STATE 67, CSU-PUEBLO 55: Rianna Harris scored 16 points and Paige Powers finished with 15 to lead Metro State over CSU-Pueblo, sending the Road- runners to a championship matchup with Regis today at noon.
The Roadrunners (24-5) went on an 18-4 run to end the first half ahead 39-23.
Kerry Lewis led the Thunderwolves with 15 points.
