The University of Denver men’s basketball team defeated Sun Belt Conference leader Western Kentucky University 78-74 Saturday night in Magness Arena.
Some 3,500 fans attended DU’s sixth annual Pack the House game.
Denver advanced its record in Pack the House games to 4-2, winning in the last two years.
“We have been thinking it is the road win that might put us over the hump, but why can’t it be a home win against the class of the league?” said head coach Joe Scott. “Western has great tradition. For us to beat them as young in the process as we are building our program, maybe that will be the thing that does something extra for these guys,” he said.
The Pioneers (7-11, 2-5 SBC) overcame the Hilltoppers (13-7, 7-2 SBC) with the help of junior forward Nate Rohnert, who not only led all scorers with 22 points but also played a well-rounded game.
Rohnert added a career high nine assists, six rebounds and four steals, all while shooting 8-11 from the field.
Sophomore Rob Lewis and freshmen Brian Stafford and Andrew Hooper additionally all threw down double-digit scoring efforts of 16 points.
Coming off a winless two-game road trip, the Denver men passed their most important test of the season thus far with their victory over the Hilltoppers, a 2008 Cinderella Sweet 16 team.
Entering Saturday’s contest, Western Kentucky had already amassed a formidable resumé of victories this season, including ones over then-No. 3 ranked Louisville, 2008 NCAA tournament participants Georgia and South Alabama and perennial Missouri Valley powerhouse Southern Illinois.
Up until Saturday night, Denver, on the other hand, had failed to find traction and consistency against other Sun Belt rivals.
“We’ve been playing well every game for the past three weeks, but tonight at those critical moments we made the shots and didn’t turn the ball over. It’s all part of the learning process,” said Scott.
During Saturday night’s game, Western Kentucky gained its largest lead of the game at 25-16 with 6:48 to play in the first half.
Eventually, Denver narrowed the lead to four after a 7-2 run.
With four straight points from sophomore Kyle Lewis, the Pioneers ended the first half trailing the Hilltoppers 32-30.
The Pioneers gained their first lead of the game just two minutes into the second half with a layup by Rohnert that made it 34-32.
Both teams went on scoring runs, exchanging the lead over the next 10 minutes of the game.
With 3:50 remaining, the Pioneers regained a six point lead, 65-59, because of back-to-back downtown tres-bombs compliments of Hooper and Stafford.
After extending their lead to nine with 2:19 remaining, the Hilltoppers summoned a frenzied 9-2 scoring run over the next minute to cut the Pioneers’ lead to two at 73-71, with 1:19 remaining.
However, while the momentum appeared to be shifting toward the Hilltoppers, the Pioneers retained their composure through team rebounding and sinking their free throws.
The Pioneers closed out the game with two free throws by Rob Lewis to win the game 78-74.
“They [Western Kentucky] are still one of the best teams in our league. It proves that we can play with the best teams and we can beat the best teams,” said Stafford, a guard. “It is just a big win for us to play against good players and come out on top.”
This year’s squad is officially the youngest in the nation, weighing in at a baby-faced 18.9 years old, haught with potential.
“I think we are still learning, building and growing. We’ve got all these freshmen and sophomores,” said Scott.
The Pioneers will stay at home this week, taking on South Alabama this Thursday, at 7 p.m in Magness Arena.
“South Alabama was an at large team last year in the tournament. Maybe playing these two teams back-to-back will be the thing that gets our guys to say ‘hey, we are pretty good’,” said Scott.
After this triumph over Western Kentucky-a team that has shown it can gallop with the Clydesdales of Division I big conference basketball-Pioneer fans should still entertain hopes of tournament glory.
As this season progresses and Sun Belt Conference play continues, the Pioneers’ potential to make a run deep into the annual Sun Belt Tournament and in turn gain a bid in the NCAA tournament will be tested and scrutinized.
“We try and get better every week so that when it comes to conference tournament time we are playing our best ball and we can make a run in the conference tournament,” said Stafford.
