The University of Denver men’s basketball team won its first conference game of the season, 72-69, over Florida International at Magness Arena Sunday afternoon.
Freshman guard Erik Benxel drew one of four key charges for the Pioneers with only 30 seconds left and Denver up 69-67. After a Denver timeout, sophomore Ryan Goral was fouled and shot two game winning free throws with 28 seconds left to seal the win.
Senior forward Sherman Rochell and junior guard B.J. Pratt helped bring the Pioneers to victory by scoring 16 points each for the team. Benzel had a game-high six assist.
Taurance Johnson was one of the most valuable players as he scored 23 points, more than any other scorer on either team
The win was the first in four tries for Denver against FIU, it was also the biggest come back win of the season for the Pioneers. The Golden Panther took a huge 17-4 lead in the first seven minutes of the game.
However, towards the end of the first half, the Pioneers went on a 15-3 run, highlighted by a layup from sophomore forward Brett Starkey, leaving the Pioneers with their first lead of the game. The Panthers came back with a fight though, givig them a 32-31 lead into the locker room.
In the second half, Starkey helped take the Pioneers to victory by adding 13 points and all eight rebounds in the final 20 minutes.
“We didn’t come at FIU with any emotion or intensity. I thought the team definitely picked uo the intensity later in the first half, which created a lot of opportunities for us,” said Head Coach Terry Carroll. “The team played really smart the last 55 seconds of the game,” he said.
“Brett Starkey has been working extremely hard in practice, and that’s finally carrying over into the game.People made some nice passes to him today. B.J. Pratt stepped up defensively and took some nice charges, and had good pressure on the ball,” Carrol said.
DU’s basketball team continues its four-game homestand with two Sun Belt Conference games this weekend.
Denver hosts North Texas tonight at 7 p.m. before facing East Division favorite Western Kentucky on Saturday.
North Texas enters with a 7-8 record and 2-2 in league play after beating Texas A&M-Kingsville, 100-92.
