Box Score DENVER, Colo. ? Denver's Brian Stafford scored a game-high 22 points Thursday night to lead the Pioneers (15-11, 8-7) to a 62-57 victory over the UALR men's basketball team (7-19, 3-12) at Magness Arena. The Pioneers led from wire-to-wire after opening the game with a 14-3 run, and survived a 13-of-30 effort at the free-throw line (43.3 percent) to pick up its 14-straight victory at home.
Denver improved to 8-0 at home in conference play by shooting 50.0 percent from the field while making nine three pointers. Nate Rohnert and Chase Hallam chipped in 11 points apiece, with Rohnert adding a team-high eight rebounds.
Junior Solomon Bozeman went 9-of-10 at the foul line on his way to a team-high 16 points in the losing effort. Junior Matt Mouzy added 11 points off a 3-for-4 effort from three-point range, while junior Derrick Bails chipped in 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
The Trojans shot just 37 percent on the night, and went 17-of-29 at the foul line (58.6 percent) en route to their fourth-straight loss.
The Pioneers ran out to a 14-3 lead at the start of the game as UALR made just one field goal over the first 7:47. Denver led by as many as 14 points in the first half, and held a 25-11 lead at the 5:07 mark before the Trojans scored seven-unanswered points, five of which came from Bozeman, to pull within six at the break, 28-22.
Stafford scored five of the Pioneers' first seven points at the start of the second half, and extended DU's lead to 11 points, 35-24, with a three pointer with 18:03 to go. Down by 11, Bails delivered a three-point play to spark a quick 7-0 spurt and pull the Trojans within four, 35-31.
With its lead cut to four, Denver got back-to-back layups from Stafford and Rob Lewis to go back on top by eight. Bozeman was then whistled for intentional foul while trying to stop a fastbreak layup, and Andrew Hooper knocked down both free throws to put Denver ahead 41-31 with 15:00 left to play.
Denver led by at least five points the rest of the way until a three pointer by Mouzy made it a one-possession game, 53-50, with 2:06 remaining. With UALR on its heels, Denver pushed its lead back to six points, 56-50, when Rohnert found Stafford in the corner for a three pointer with 1:42 to go. A Trojan turnover on the ensuing possession led to a layup by Chase Hallam, which put the Pioneers ahead 58-50 and sealed the win.
UALR returns to action Saturday at 3 p.m. when it takes on North Texas at The Super Pit. The game will be televised by CSS/CST as part of the Sun Belt Conference's television package.
