The road has not been kind to the men’s basketball squad this season. Denver entered this past week’s three-game stint winless on the road in the Summit League and unfortunately, that number didn’t improve by the end of the trip.

On Jan. 29, the Pios fell to North Dakota State University in overtime, 61-54. Denver’s most recent loss on Jan. 31 wasn’t as close, as they fell 69-39 to South Dakota State University.

Consecutive losses for Denver have dropped the Pioneers to 9-13 overall and 3-6 in conference play.
The winner of the Summit League tournament receives an automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

South Dakota State owns the top spot in the Summit League with an overall record of 17-7 and 8-2 in league. The Bison of North Dakota State are not far behind and sit at second place in conference standings with 15-7 record and 7-2 record in thus far in conference play.

The Pioneers led by 10 points at half against the Bison, but couldn’t hold on to the win. North Dakota State took their first lead of the game with under five minutes to play. Junior guard Nate Engesser had 15 points, but the Pioneers went 0 for 4 behind the arc in overtime.

The Pios only hit a third of their shots from the field (12-of-36) and went 4-of-11 from behind the arc against the South Dakota State JackRabbits. It wasn’t enough to overcome the red-hot 59.5 field goal percentage of South Dakota State. Denver freshman Daniel Amigo scored a career-high 14 points in the loss.

Senior guard Cam Griffin, who was absent both games before the North Dakota State overtime loss, had two points in 13 minutes against the Bison. Griffin was also limited against the Jackrabbits, getting two points and seven rebounds.

After a much needed reprieve, the Pios will return to Magness Arena to take on the University of Nebraska Omaha on Feb. 7 to try and turn the tide after a fruitless road trip. The Pios dropped the previous meeting in Omaha by a 80-69 margin.