The Pioneer men’s basketball team continued its strong play of late by playing two close home games last weekend at Magness Arena.

DU battled to a thrilling 90-85 victory Thursday over Sun Belt Conference foe Florida Atlantic University before losing a close 70-64 contest with South Alabama on Saturday.

“We played strong,” said Pioneer interim Head Coach Kevin Reynolds. “We have been playing well lately, so it’s nice to get a win out of it.”

Starting strong in Thursday’s game, the Pioneers opened the scoring when freshman guard Tyler Bullok finished a fast break by dunking over an FAU defender. The Pioneers continued pressuring FAU, causing turnovers and a great deal of frustration.

With 12:44 remaining in the first half, FAU Head Coach Rex Walters was given his second technical of the game, causing his night to end early after getting ejected from the game.

Despite a number of hard fouls and turnovers, the Pioneers shot well throughout the first half, with senior guard DaShawn Walker leading the way by hitting a number of tough shots with defenders in his face.

The first half ended with a 44-44 tie. Walker had a game-high 16 for the Pioneers in the opening half.

The second half began with both teams trading baskets. When it looked like FAU would start to pull away, Walker hit an NBA-range three-point shot to get the Pioneers back up by one at 54-53.

Only minutes later, FAU went on a run, putting themselves up by eight points with just over 10 minutes to play.

It was clear that the Pioneers needed an answer, and they got one when sophomore guard Joe Jackson entered the game.

Jackson sparked a Pioneer scoring run, starting with hitting a couple of three-point baskets to get the Pioneers back into the game. DU regained the lead after Jackson hit a tough pull-up jumper from the foul line to put the Pioneers back up 70-69 with four minutes remaining.

After the teams traded buckets for the next five minutes, when Jackson was able to finish off an impressive drive with another pull-up shot to give the Pioneers a lead at 80-78.

The Pioneer defense then stepped up, as they forced two consecutive stops that were followed by a made jumper by senior forward Antonio Porch and free throws in which Walker buried.

The Pioneer lead now rested at six points before an FAU player buried a three pointer with 1:33 remaining.

FAU promptly fouled the Pioneers after the bucket to send Bullok to the line for a one and one opportunity. Bullok failed to capitalized, missing the front end.

The Pioneer lead was cut to two points before Jackson was fouled and had a chance to put the game out of reach with two free throws with 26 seconds left. Jackson calmly sank both, putting the Pioneers up by four and sending them to a 90-85 victory.

“We really needed it,” said Jackson of the way that he stepped up when his team needed it the most. “I’m just glad I could help out. Whatever my team needs me to do, I want to be there. Whether they need me to rebound or to play defense or score, I just want to be there to help.”

Jackson finished the game with a career-high 21 points, 15 of which came in the second half. Walker led all scorers with 25, while Bullok finished with 17.

Saturday’s game looked to be much of the same for the Pioneers, as they jumped out to a big early lead over SBC first-place team South Alabama. The Jaguars of USA made the first bucket of the game, and then the Pioneers went on a 16-0 run by connecting on a number of jump shots and layups.

The 14 point lead would be DU’s largest of the game, as the Jaguars slowly chipped away, bringing the lead down to 35-32 by halftime.

USA clamped down on defense in the second half, causing the Pioneers to have a hard time finding good looks at the basket. The Pioneers were scoreless in the second half until Walker nailed a jump shot over two and half minutes in.

“I think we just had a lack of energy… I don’t know why,” said Walker of his teams play in the second half. “When they turned that defense up, we got a little uneven. We’ve got to keep our composure and play our basketball game.”

Although the Pioneers were struggling on offense, their defense was able to step up. They caused a number of turnovers and defensive stops, keeping the lead at 49-47 with 10 minutes remaining.

However, that would be the last lead that the Pioneers would have in the game, as the Jaguars started to pull away.

Steals caused by defensive pressure allowed the Jaguars to extend their lead to 57-50 with 4:19 remaining.

The Pioneers fought hard to the end, as Walker scored nine straight points, to pull his team within four with under a minute left. But, it wasn’t enough as the Jaguars finished the Pioneers off with a score of 70-64.

“They played good defense,” said Reynolds of his opponent Saturday night. “They have a lot of rangy athletes and did a good job taking us out of what we were trying to do. You got to take your hat off to Southern Alabama.”

The loss dropped the Pioneers to 3-16 (2-7 SBC) on the season. DU looks to continue their strong play of late, when they head to Troy, Ala. to take on Troy University at 6:30 p.m. MT Thursday. The game can be heard live online at www.DenverPioneers.com.