Those who bleed crimson and gold were rewarded with the spoils of a weekend sweep of North Dakota by the DU hockey team and SBC victories over New Mexico State and Louisiana-Lafayette by DU men’s basketball.

DU hockey slid into second place in the WCHA with a pair of 4-2 wins over the Fighting Sioux while DU men’s basketball strengthened its hold on first place in the SBC after improving their conference record to 8-1.

Starting of with hockey in Grand Forks, N.D., sophomore Glenn Fisher and freshman Peter Mannino each spent one game between the pipes for the Pioneers.

Fisher finished Friday’s contest with 26 saves, 14 of which he made in the third period, and Mannino ended Saturday’s game with 24 saves.

Senior Nick Larson picked the opportune time to score in the first game as his first career goal doubled as a game winner for the fourth-ranked Pioneers.

Senior Luke Fulghum took care of heroics in night two as he contributed one assist and two goals.

Fulghum now has 15 goals and 12 assists on the season.

The hockey team has won seven games in a row and with 31 points sits one point ahead of Wisconsin in the WCHA.

The Badgers will travel to Colorado this weekend for two games against the Pioneers at Magness Arena.

It may be good for the Badgers that the first game isn’t until this Friday, because Magness Arena needs a few days to cool off the Pioneer basketball victories.

The men’s basketball team started off on the right foot Thursday night with a tight 75-73 victory over New Mexico State.

Junior Yemi Nicholson was the man down low for the Pioneers, putting up a career-high 34 points and nabbing 15 rebounds.

Prior to this victory over the Aggies, the Pioneers had not defeated New Mexico State at home since 1966.

But Saturday’s victory over Louisiana-Lafayette left the Ragin’ Cajuns with two SBC losses and the Pioneers as the only team in the SBC with one loss.

Senior Rodney Billups and Nicholson tag teamed the Ragin’ Cajuns with a double-double each.

Senior Erik Benzel exploded with six three pointers and a total of 22 points. Benzel is fifth in the SBC in 3-point field goal percentage.

Although only a prediction, the Pioneers are currently selected by ESPN.com to win the SBC tournament and head to the NCAA tournament as a No. 14 seed.

They are currently projected to play the University of Washington, which is picked to be a No. 3 seed.