The Denver men’s basketball team fought hard to take down the Utah Valley Wolverines in their season home opener on Saturday. Utah Valley came out strong and managed to hold the lead for the first 10 minutes of the half. Although Denver then pulled ahead with 10:32 remaining in the first half, the game was a constant back and forth battle. Utah Valley fought to tie the game two separate times at 22 and 26 points, but was faced with a determined Pioneer defense that wouldn’t give up the lead. As the half came to an end, the Pioneers went on an impressive run that sent them into the locker room with 39 points to Utah Valley’s 30. 

When the second half began, Utah Valley was anything but discouraged. The Wolverines came out strong to tie up the game at 43 points and then took a lead of 47-46 with 12:30 to go. But, the Pioneers refused to back down and pulled back ahead with consecutive triples from sophomore Joseph Lanzi (Birmingham, Ala.). With three minutes remaining, the Pioneers grasped control of the game and finally kept the Wolverine’s offense contained, forcing Utah Valley to run out the shot clock twice. The Pioneers then went on to secure their win with a 74-62 victory. 

Denver’s scoring was led by Lanzi, who had a standout performance with 20 points and a perfect three-point shot percentage. Lazi was 8-9 from the field and played a crucial role in Denver’s second-half dominance. Fellow sophomore Jase Townsend (Dallas, Texas) also had an impressive game, with 18 points and five rebounds and senior Ade Murkey led the Pioneers on the glass with six rebounds. Denver looks to keep their momentum as they travel to Logan, Utah on Nov. 12, 2019 to take on ranked opponent Utah State.