Photo by: Scott Casey
The men finished their season with a double overtime loss to New Orleans Saturday night, 74-73, ending their hopes of an SBC tournament bid.
The women finished their regular season with a 71-61 win over New Orleans at home to finish in a tie for fourth in the West Division. They reqiured certain outcomes in games played Sunday and Monday to advance to the tournament.
The Sun Belt Conference includes Arkansas State, Arkansas-Little Rock, Florida International, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State, New Orleans, North Texas, South Alabama, Troy State, Utah State and Western Kentucky.
Last year, the Denver men’s team advanced to the semifinals, falling to Middle Tennessee 59-83. The women got cut in the first round when they lost to Arkansas State 59-66. This year they hope to get further.
The men finished the regular season 14-13 overall and 6-9 in conference play Scoring has been led this season by junior guard Erik Benzel, who has averaged 14.6 points per game.
Senior Brett Starkey is second, averaging 11.8 points per game and is number one in rebounds, at 7.4 per game.
Close behind Benzel and Starkey are junior point guard Rodney Billups, and senior forwards Zeljko Zupic and Carvell McAlister.
The women’s team is led by junior guard Tasha Jones who is averaging 12.5 points per game.
Point guard Tyesha Lowery has stepped up her game and now leads the team in assists with 66.
The women’s basketball team finished the regular season with a overall record of 13-14 and a 6-9 conference record.
They are 3-3 in league games at home and 2-5 on the road. Denver holds an all-time record of 46-19 on their home court, which includes a 15-game winning streak from Dec. 18, 2000 to Nov. 20, 2001 against Iowa.
Although disappointed from their loss at their last home game on Monday, the men’s team would have liked to win a game on the road before the tournament.
“We have to win one on the road, we don’t have any other options,” said men’s Head Coach Terry Carroll.
The women are in a three-way tie for fourth place in the SBC West Division standings.
The Pioneers are locked with New Mexico State and New Orleans at 5-8. The top three teams in the East Division (Middle Tennessee, Arkansas State, and Western Kentucky) and the top two teams in the West Division (South Alabama, Louisiana-Lafayette) have already earned a spot in the tournament.
With five secure teams and one team out of contention, it means that five teams will be competing for three remaining berths (Denver, New Mexico St., New Orleans and North Texas).
To finish the regular season, Denver is going to attempt to win back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 22-24 against Arkansas State and Arkansas-Little Rock.
“We are still in contention to go to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament, but we will have to win our last two games,” said women’s Head Coach Pam Tanner.
Both teams are passionate and ready to do their best at the tournament and are determined to see how the end of their season will turn out.
“We all [would have liked]…to see how we [wouldhave] do[ne] at conference,” said senior Ryan Goral. However, the men will not get that chance and will look forward to next year.
