This past weekend, the University of Denver men’s basketball team played its final two home games of the regular season and lost both. The Pioneers were defeated last Sunday by New Orleans 60-54 and also to Middle Tennessee 65-58 last Thursday.
Prior to this past weekend’s losses, the Pioneers had been undefeated at home in conference games.
“These last two games have been hard-fought, close games, ” said Head Coach Joe Scott. “Obviously I would have liked a different outcome, but in a way I’m glad we’re going through this. This experience really tests the guys, and the more we learn in these games, the better we will be down the road.”
Three Pioneers earned double digit efforts in Sunday’s loss to UNO. Senior center Adam Tanner led the team with 18 points and freshman forward Rob Lewis went for 13 points before he was called out on fouls with 5:10 remaining. Sophomore forward Nate Rohnert scored 12 points and grabbed five rebounds.
The Privateers were led by Bo McCalebb who had a game-high 22 points and scored 11 of UNO’s first 15 points. McCalebb also grabbed two rebounds, three assists and four steals.
“Things didn’t go our way tonight, like when Rob Lewis got his fifth foul,” said Coach Scott. “If we would have had a layup there instead, maybe the game would have been different.”
Despite the fact that not a single Pioneer fouled out during Thursday’s homer against Middle Tennessee, the team lost.
“Middle Tennessee played well, and we played well at times,” said Coach Scott. “We have to give them credit for doing the things teams need to do to win this kind of game.”
The Blue Raiders had four players who earned double digit efforts, two sophomores and two juniors.
The Pioneers had three players to earn double digit efforts. Tanner went for 16 points, freshman guard Kyle Lewis scored 13 points and junior guard Joe Jackson had 10 points.
This time Rob Lewis was only successful in scoring nine points before being fouled out with 7:27 left in the contest. Rob Lewis also had a team-high six boards, while Rohnert scored eight points, grabbed three rebounds, two assists and one steal.
“We have to expect another game like tonight’s and respond with a little resilience,” said Scott after the game in reference to Sunday’s game. “In the long run, though, our guys are going to be better off because of what we’re doing now.”
If the Pioneers responded with more than just “a little resilience,” maybe the game would have been different.
This weekend the Pioneers hit the road for the final two games of the regular season. On Thursday the team will take on Arkansas-Little Rock and on Saturday against Louisiana-Lafayette.
