DU men’s basketball (3-3) had a tough first half against Montana on Sunday evening in Missoula, Montana. Denver shot a tepid 33.3% (9/27) from the field and committed nine turnovers against Montana. Fielding a thin front line and an inexperienced backcourt, DU trailed 38-24 at the break. Freshman Sebastian Akins and grad student Isaiah Addo-Ankrah had 7 and 6 points respectively at the break to pace Denver.

Denver played a better ten minutes to open the second half and ate away at the Griz lead. Akins scored a driving layup 11:30 into the period to make it a three-point game, 51-48. Unfortunately, that was as close as Denver could get. The Griz built a double-digit lead with five minutes to go, largely with points in the paint. Three dunks by Montana’s Joe Pridgen, six in all, and free throws finished off the Pioneers as DU’s defense came unraveled down the stretch.

Final score 83-73.

Montana’s Joe Pridgen owned the closing minutes of the game and finished with 23 points and 7 rebounds. Denver was led by a pair of newcomers. Akins led DU with 21 points and 2 rebounds while Nicholas Shogbonyo scored 16 points and collected 5 rebounds. DU’s bigs, Isaiah Carr and Pedro Lopez Sanvicente, struggled on both ends of the floor with a combined six points and nine rebounds. Denver surrendered 46 points in the paint to the Griz. Until center Abdulai Fanta Kabba returns from injury to assist with the unexpected departure of Tymo Sternicki, the Pioneers are paper thin on the front line. This leaves Denver with a deep but inexperienced backcourt which must carry the day.

Denver turns around quickly on Monday at 2:00 pm MT at the Montana MTE Tournament to face Cal State Northridge.