All hope was lost Saturday afternoon at Hamilton Gym. North Dakota State’s  Noah Fedderson sunk a pair of free throws to put DU down by 20 points, 52-32, early in the second half. The Bison held a steady advantage with a 19-point bulge four minutes later after  Jacar White buried a three-point shot with 13:45 remaining. From that point forward, Denver caught fire, outscoring NDSU 39-14 down the stretch, led by a seldom-used Pioneer Josh Lee, a scrambling baseline defense and a red-hot Tommy Bruner to down NDSU 77-71. 

The Bison carried a shooting and rebounding edge to put Denver (15-13, 6-7) in a ten-point halftime hole. Frankly, Tommy Bruner looked to be having a poor afternoon and Denver was shooting under 50% from the field. In the first half, DU went 0-9 from downtown and the Bison shot 50% on 5 of 10 trays to build a double-digit halftime lead. The first 20 minutes ended 38-28 as the Pioneers shot a pedestrian 46%. NDSU was led by Tajavis Miller who went 4 for 4 from beyond the arc. Tommy Bruner led Denver with nine points but had three turnovers. Denver was outrebounded 17-8 in what looked to be a disappointing outing.

NDSU came out of the halftime break on fire. At the 16-minute mark, Denver was dawn by 20, 52-32, as the Bison poured it on the dazed Pioneers. Touko Tainamo finally hit Denver’s first 3-point make at 13:30 after DU went 0/11 as the game slipped away from Denver’s grasp. However, Denver began to chip away at the lead with aggressive defense and timely shot-making. At 9:55, a Tommy Bruner free throw made it a 10-point game, 59-49, and suddenly Denver was in contact with the Bison. Tommy Bruner ripped off eight straight points for DU to draw even 61-61. Touko Tainamo canned two three-point makes along with two Denver defensive stops to go up 67-61. Bruner reeled off the next four points for DU. DeAndre Craig hit a key jumper to hold off an NDSU push, 73-67, with 1:10 left in the game to essentially finish off the Bison. Bruner canned two insurance free throws and Josh Lee, the defensive star of the game, finished the scoring with a pair of free throws to end the scoring 77-71.

Denver’s six trays in the second half were critical as the Bison cooled off from range (3/13). Tommy Bruner turned the second half into ‘Tommy Time’ with 32 points (41 in all) by scoring critical points down the stretch. Josh Lee only finished with 4 points but it was his 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, many at critical times, that fueled the comeback. Touko Tainamo stuffed the stat sheet again with 13 points, 6 rebounds and an assist. Freshman DeAndre Craig had an outstanding stat line with 8 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Ultimately, it was team defense with steals (5), forced turnovers (14) and defensive stops that created the second-half comeback for Denver. The Bison only got 32 points in the paint as DU employed an aggressive baseline two-man trap. The biggest takeaway? DU never quit when they had every reason to call it an early afternoon.

Next up is a trip to South Dakota State on Thursday at 6:00 pm MT.