Denver men’s basketball (11-14, 4-6) opened its two-game road swing Thursday night against the North Dakota State Bison, 9-0 in conference play. Denver battled for both halves as Carson Johnson paced the Pioneer scoring and Gabe Oldham hauled down 12 big rebounds. Denver rebuffed the Bison down the stretch in the confidence-building win.
The teams exchanged points early when DU’s Gabe Oldham scored a pair of consecutive buckets to put DU up 9-5 at the five-minute mark. At the first media timeout (10:14), DU led 19-14 as Jeremiah Burke and Carson Johnson combined for 13 points and Gabe Oldham pulled down four rebounds. The first ten minutes had only two fouls called. Zane Nelson buried a shot from distance, 26-18, and a Josh Lee bucket-and-one gave the Pioneers their biggest lead on the back of a 10-0 run. In the final five minutes, a Carson Johnson tray, his third in the first half, held off a Bison run, 34-27. After trading baskets, Julius Rollins finished the DU scoring, 40-34, halftime.
The second half opened with each side scoring, followed by a Logan Kinsey bucket-and-one that put DU up by nine. Denver held an 11-point edge at the ‘officials timeout’. Following three straight stops, NDSU’s Wheeler Thomas’ three-point play closed the gap to 8. Pioneer fouls put the Bison in the penalty with 13 minutes remaining. Denver went cold from the field while NDSU came surging back on a Tay Smith tray-and-one, 55-51, with eleven minutes left. NDSU knotted the game, 55-55, on a 9-0 Bison run. At 7:19, NDSU got its first lead on a pair of free throws, 58-57. However, Denver responded down the stretch. Zane Nelson secured a rebound and bucket put-in to extend the Denver lead with five minutes left. Denver led by 4 on a Carson Johnson floater with a minute remaining. Logan Kinsey ran the baseline and took a Johnson feed and bucket with 27 seconds left, 72-68. NDSU was called for basket interference and the ball went back to Denver with 19 seconds remaining. Foul shots ensued. Denver’s Zane Nelson and Carson Johnson sank the charities and DU came away with the 78-71 win.
Denver was the best team all night, holding NDSU to less than three minutes in the lead. Denver shot 50.9% and out-rebounded NDSU 35-33. On a personal note, Jeremiah Burke had a solid night against his old team with 15 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals. Next up is North Dakota on Saturday at 12:00 MT in Grand Forks. The Fighting Hawks, one of the league’s hottest teams, have won five conference games in a row.
