PUEBLO — The kingpin remains king.
Metro State erased a 19-point, second-half deficit en route to an 83-79 victory over New Mexico Highlands in the men’s championship game of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference basketball tournament Saturday at the Colorado State Fair Events Center.
Metro State (24-6) claimed its ninth title in the 18-year tournament. The Roadrunners have won six championships in the past eight years.
New Mexico Highlands led 47-33 at halftime and extended its lead to 19 points with 15:44 remaining. How-ever, two of the Cowboys’ inside players — Chop Tang and Chris Dunn — fouled out down the stretch.
The Roadrunners tied the game at 77-77 on Reggie Evans’ layup with 1:13 left.
Evans added another layup on an inbounds play with 20 seconds remaining, and the Roadrunners salted the game away at the free-throw line in the waning seconds.
Evans and tournament MVP Donte Nicholas led five Metro State players in double figures with 18 points.
Roman Andrade poured in a game-high 25 points for the Cowboys (20-10), who made their first appearance in the RMAC title game.
Metro State received the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA’s Division II tournament. Sites, times and pairings will be announced today.
CSU-Pueblo 61, Fort Lewis 60
PUEBLO — Katrina Selsor scored 28 points, including a layup with three seconds left, to give CSU-Pueblo (20-10) its third consecutive women’s title and automatic bid. Allison Rosel scored 24 points for the Skyhawks (30-3).
