by DENVER – Nate Engesser scored a game-high 20 points, but it was not enough as the University of Denver men’s basketball team dropped a hard-fought battle to the Air Force Falcons 61-59 Saturday afternoon at Magness Arena.
Jake Pemberton made his first career start and played all 40 minutes. Pemberton filled up the stat sheet, tying his career-high with eight points, dished out four assists, grabbed three rebounds and had a career-best six steals.
The Pioneers (5-3) and Falcons (6-2) fought back-and-forth in a game that saw neither team lead by more than four points. With the Pioneers trailing by four points, Engesser drilled a 3-pointer with 7.7 seconds remaining to pull DU within one. After Air Force made one of two free throws, the Pioneers had one last shot but a pass from Engesser to Rosga was just a bit high and went out of bounds as the Falcons escaped with a two-point victory.
Marcus Byrd finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Christian Mackey (Navajo Nation) set a new career-high with 10 points in a season-high 20 minutes of action.
“I told our guys it was going to be a dog fight and it was a dog fight,” head coach Joe Scott said. “It was similar to Wednesday’s game against Wyoming. Today we were in the dog fight for a full 40 minutes. It’s going to be a process for our seniors to step up and learn the things that we’re trying to get them to learn. It’s going to be a process as they’re doing that, to bring along the freshmen and the sophomores as well. Obviously we’ve made a lot of progress with that, so to be honest that’s what the games have shown us. I’m happy to be coaching this team and I’m enjoying coaching this team because it’s about the team and it’s going to continue being about the team because they’re going to learn how to get the result they want in the dog fight.”
Denver and Air Force both got off to slow starts as neither team shot the ball well in the first half. DU struggled with nine turnovers in the first half. Pemberton gave the Pioneers a bit of a jump start scoring six points and adding three rebounds in the first 20 minutes.
The Pioneers took a 22-21 lead into the lockerroom.
Byrd added six points and seven rebounds, while Mackey came off the bench and chipped in four points in the first half. Air Force out-rebounded Denver 24-18 with nine of those rebounds coming on the offensive end.
The Pioneers shot 31.8 percent (7-of-22) from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, while Air Force hit for just 23.3 percent (7-of-30) in the first 20 minutes. The Pioneers hit for 25.0 percent (3-of-12) from behind the arc in the opening half. The Falcons shot 22.2 percent (2-of-9) from behind the 3-point line in the first half.
Denver shot 46.7 percent (21-of-45), to Air Force’s 40.0 percent (20-of-50) from the field for the game. The Pioneers shot just 27.8 percent from behind the 3-point line (5-of-18). The Falcons hit 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from 3-point range. Air Force made 73.9 percent (17-of-23) from the free-throw line compared to 85.7 percent (12-of-14) for DU.
“No individual is going to do it and that’s part of this process,” Scott added. “I’m seeing a team grow up in front of my eyes and I’m enjoying coaching and it’s going to be a matter of the resiliency—we’re going to stick with that because we have the answers. The answers are in that locker room, the answers are in what we’re doing and I know it because I’m seeing it, so that’s a positive. I care about this team and getting back to being the kind of team that they want to be. Obviously it’s always nicer to get the result that you want, but in the grand scheme of things, I’m encouraged and we just have to keep at it.”
Air Force was led by Zach Moer who scored 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
Denver will head on the road to take on the San Diego Toreros Wednesday, Dec. 9 at 8 p.m. MT. The game can also be heard on Mile High Sports Radio 1340 AM with Raj Sharan on the call and streamed via Pioneer Vision. For subscription information to Pioneer Vision please visit www.denverpioneers.com.
