Floyd Brandt | The Metropolitan

Evans hit a critical shot with 10 seconds remaining, leading the Roadrunners (now 17-1, 12-1 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) to a 52-51 win over the Grizzlies Jan. 21.

“It feels like we won the championship, yet we didn’t,” Evans said. “But, it does feel good.”

The Roadrunners came out flat and had a tough time finding the basket. Adams was the same. Metro had its opportunities to get second-chance points, but they couldn’t capitalize.

The Grizzlies got into trouble with seven team fouls before the 10-minute mark.

Adams State made Metro work as they brought heavy pressure defense. The Runners also had trouble gaining composure and rhythm in the first half.

The Grizzlies entered halftime up 30-23, and Metro head coach Derrick Clark had to change his team’s strategy.

“We really talked a lot about just getting defensive stops,” Clark said. “The big thing is just play every possession and don’t panic.”

Adams State also changed strategy for the second half.

“At halftime, I didn’t feel very comfortable,” Adams head coach Louis Wilson said. “Our strategy was pretty much [to] stay with changing our defenses and try to force them to shoot it over the top, do a better job on our defensive boards.”

In the second half, the Runners started with a 9-0 run and played better defense holding the Grizzlies to zero field goals until six minutes and 22 seconds into the second half.

The game then went back and forth with scoring and defense. Then, with 22.9 seconds left in regulation and Metro down one point, Grizzly guard Deray Wilson was called for a double dribble.

Evans then hit the game-winning shot. The Grizzlies, however, still had one possession to make something happen.

On that possession, Adams threw the ball out of bounds at the buzzer, sealing a Metro victory.

“It was just a hard-fought victory, and it was going to come down to who made a play at the end once we got ourselves back in the game,” Clark said. “But we feel great about it, and we defended our home floor.”

Metro also avenged its previous loss to Adams State in which the Grizzlies edged the Runners 59-54 in Alamosa Jan. 22, 2011.

“[There was] a lot of revenge,” Evans said. “We’ve got to come out here and play. We can’t let a team come in here in our home [court] and take a (win) out here.”

Evans finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while junior forward/center Jonathan Morse finished with 16 points and 15 rebounds including 10 offensive rebounds.

“I’m very proud of the way our guys competed,” Clark said. “They continued to fight through a little adversity, and that’s what we talk about. They passed the test tonight, and that’s all about our players.”

Metro will play the next two games on the road Jan. 27 against Western State College and Jan. 28 against Colorado Mesa University.

Tags: 2012, Adams State, Metro, RMAC

People: Derrick Clark, Louis Wilson, Reggie Evans