by DENVER – Joe Rosga (St. Paul, Minn.) and Christian Mackey (Navajo Nation) combined for 22 second half points as the University of Denver men’s basketball team rallied from a 15-point defecit to take a 53-51 win over the IUPUI Jaguars on Thursday night at Magness Arena.
With the Crimson and Gold (12-11, 4-6 SL) trailing 40-25 went on a 23-8 run to tied the game at 48. Rosga and Mackey combined to score 21 of the Pioneers 23 points. An Aaron Brennan free throw with 1:28 remaining gave the Jaguars (11-14, 7-3 SL) their final lead of the game.
Denver started the game missing their first 13 3-point attempts, but Thomas Neff(Arvada, Colo.) knocked down a huge one with 1:04 remaining to give the Pioneers a 51-49 lead that they would never relinquish. Mackey would make 1-of-2 from the foul line to extend the lead to three with five seconds left. DU would foul Jordan Pickett with four seconds remaining as he knocked down both to cut the Pioneer advantage to 52-51.
Rosga would run the baseline and throw a pass that Neff would tip into the front court to Marcus Byrd (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) who would be fouled with 0.9 seconds. Byrd would make the first and miss the second. IUPUI would call its final timeout with 0.8 remaining and would throw a full court desperation pass that Mackey would steal to seal the victory for Denver.
”One of those games that are important when you have young guys,” head coach Joe Scott said. “It was a game where things were not going well and we were not playing well. We just hung in there and found the right combination of guys in the second half. Christian Mackey has been practicing really well, he is becoming so much more competitive in practice and you saw it transfer to the game tonight.”
C.J. Bobbitt (Harker Heights, Texas) scored six of the Pioneers first eight points and Duke Douglas (New Orleans, La.) added the other bucket as DU led the visitors 8-7 in the opening minutes. The Jaguars rattled off an 11-0 run to open up a 10-point advantage.
The Crimson and Gold would cut the lead in half after Rosga knocked down a pair of free throws when IUPUI’s Darell Combs was called for a technical foul. The Jaguars answered with a mini five-point run to up the lead back to 10.
IUPUI took a 30-21 advantage into the locker room.
Denver shot 35.0 percent (7-of-20) from the floor, while IUPUI hit for 42.9 percent (12-of-28) in the opening period of play. The Pioneers missed all seven of their attempts from behind the arc, while the Jaguars knocked down a 33.3 percent (2-of-6) clip from deep.
DU was hampered in the first half with nine turnovers. Bobbitt led Denver with six points.
Bobbitt opened the second half with a bucket, which was followed by a 10-2 run by IUPUI with eight points coming from Marcellus Barksdale.
Denver finished the game shooting 41.5 percent (17-of-41), while IUPUI finished shooting 36.7 percent (18-of-49). The Pioneers finished the game hitting just 12.5 percent (2-of-16) from beyond the arc compared to just 18.1 percent (2-of-11) for the Jaguars.
Rosga finished with a game-high 16 points. Mackey added 11 points, four rebounds and a career-high four blocks. Bobbitt chipped in nine points, while Jake Pemberton (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) scored four points and pulled down a career-tying six rebounds. Neff finished with seven points.
IUPUI was led by Marcellus Barksdale who scored 14 points and pulled down five rebounds.
