DENVER – Behind an 11-of-17 shooting performance from Destan Williams, that also included 10-of-11 from the free-throw line, the No. 5 seeded Adams State University men's basketball team defeated the No. 5 seeded MSU Denver Roadrunners, 78-66 on Tuesday night inside the Auraria Events Center. The game was one of three quarterfinal games in the 2021 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Men's Basketball Tournament.

With the win, the Grizzlies advanced to take on the winner of Tuesday (late) night's match-up between No. 1 seeded Colorado Mesa and No. 8 seeded Chadron State. If the Mavericks win, the Grizzlies will play in Brownson Arena in Grand Junction, should the Eagles win, Adams State will meet Chadron State at Lockridge Arena in Golden.

An early start to the game saw both teams go 2-of-4 from the field before both teams traded the lead to make the score 9-6 at the first media timeout thanks to three fouls on Adams State.

After the break, the Roadrunners found open looks to extend the lead to six behind a three-pointer after an electric dunk from Frederick Jackson, who had six points in the first five minutes. Rylan O'Brien cut the lead in half with his first bucket of the game being a corner three-pointer from the right-wing.

Adams State continued their controlled shooting to keep pace with the Roadrunners as they trailed 19-15 at the second media timeout.

Despite both teams getting a technical foul in the first half, the Roadrunners took an 8-point advantage but then it turned into the Destan Williams show as he hit three straight treys and was 6-of-7 in the first half. Adams State then held MSU Denver scoreless in the final 2:08 of the half and went on a 7-0 run to take a 35-34 lead.

The scoreless drought for the Roadrunners continued into the second half as the run for Adams State grew to 11-0 to make the score 39-34. The lead did not last as the Roadrunners went on a 7-0 run of their own and regained the lead 41-39 headed into the first media timeout of the second half.

Adams State continued to battle as Hayden Meakes nailed a deep three-pointer to give them a 46-43 lead. As the game progressed Adams State continued to pull away and they stretched the lead out to ten points, then 12 to get the win.

Williams was the leading scorer for both teams as he had a career-high 35 points including a 3-of-5 performance from beyond the arch. He also had seven assists in the game. Frederick Jackson also contributed double digits as he had 12 points and was 6-of-10 from the field.

All eight players that entered the game for the Grizzlies scored as they shot 48.1 percent (26-of-54) from the field, 30 percent (6-of-20) from beyond the arch, and a huge 95.2 percent (20-of-21) from the free-throw line on 20 personal fouls by the Roadrunners.

Stay tuned to ASUGrizzlies.com for updates on the rest of the Grizzlies' action in the RMAC Tournament.