Coach Joe Scott and the University of Denver Pioneers had a little March Madness of their own Wednesday night in defeating Louisiana-Monroe in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
With a strong performance in the last seven minutes from all-conference guard Nate Rohnert and Brian Stafford, the Pioneers came from behind to beat the Warhawks 66-57 at Magness Arena.
With the victory, the seventh-seeded Pioneers advanced to Sunday’s quarter-finals in Hot Springs, Ark., where they will play No. 2 seed Arkansas-Little Rock.
The victory provided Scott his first postseason triumph as a head coach and it continued a surge by the Pioneers (15-15).
“It was the kind of game that we had to gut out,” Scott said. “We were 5-1 in our last six games and it got us the home court. This is a new experience in March for all of us. We worked hard all year.”
DU finished off the Warhawks at the free-throw line. Stafford hit six consecutive free throws in the final minute to push DU’s lead from 59-55 to 65-55 going into the final 30 seconds.
The Warhawks scored only four points in the last 3:53.
“Our guys did battle,” said Louisiana-Monroe coach Orlando Early. “When they needed baskets, Nate Rohnert stepped up and made plays. He did what a first-team all-conference player should do.”
With his team down 51-47 with 5:56 left, Rohnert took over the game with a five-point surge. Couple that with Stafford’s backdoor layup and DU’s 7-0 run put it up 54-51 with 4:12 remaining.
“Nate did what he had to do to make our team win,” Scott said. “It wasn’t all scoring, it was everything.”
Rohnert finished with 28 points, including 3-for-6 shooting from 3-point range.
“I just found a couple of lanes,” Rohnert said. “It was a matter of me taking over, but a case of our team taking over.”
LOUISIANA-MONROE (10-20)
Nweke 2-5 3-3 7, Gilbert 2-8 6-6 11, Thomas 4-14 0-0 10, Forbes 6-13 4-6 16, Williams 0-2 0-0 0, Lassiter 1-1 0-0 2, Averette 0-3 2-2 2, Hill 4-4 1-1 9. Totals 19-50 16-18 57.
DENVER (15-15)
R. Lewis 4-7 3-5 13, Coughlin 0-1 0-0 0, Stafford 1-8 10-10 12, K. Lewis 0-3 0-0 0, Rohnert 12-23 1-1 28, Hallam 1-4 1-2 4, Chen 1-3 1-3 3, Hooper 2-3 0-0 6, Peter-Denman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-52 16-21 66.
Halftime — Denver 28-25. 3-point goals — Louisiana-Monroe 3-13 (Thomas 2-4, Gilbert 1-3, Averette 0-1, Williams 0-1, Forbes 0-4); Denver 8-21 (Rohnert 3-6, R. Lewis 2-3, Hooper 2-3, Hallam 1-3, Chen 0-1, Coughlin 0-1, K. Lewis 0-1, Stafford 0-3). Fouled out — Hill, Nweke. Rebounds — Louisiana-Monroe 34 (Gilbert 13), Denver 32 (Chen 8). Assists — Louisiana-Monroe 5 (Williams 3); Denver 13 (Chen 4, R. Lewis 4). Total fouls — Louisiana-Monroe 22, Denver 22. A — 1,097.
Irv Moss: 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com
Wrapup
TOP 25 MEN
No. 2 North Carolina 86, Virginia Tech 78: Tyler Hansbrough had 22 points and 15 rebounds for the visiting Tar Heels (26-3, 12-3 Atlantic Coast), who lead Duke by one game heading into their regular season finale Sunday in Chapel Hill, N.C.
No. 3 Pittsburgh 90, No. 13 Marquette 75: DeJuan Blair scored 23 points and the host Panthers (27-3, 14-3) had a decisive 21-2 run in the second half to defeat the Golden Eagles (23-7, 12-5).
No. 5 Memphis 69, Houston 60: Tyreke Evans scored 23 points for the visiting Tigers (27-3, 15-0 Conference USA).
No. 6 Louisville 95, Seton Hall 78: Earl Clark scored a career-high 27 points for the host Cardinals (24-5, 15-2 Big East).
Vanderbilt 75, No. 12 LSU 67: A.J. Ogilvy scored a career-high 33 points, and visiting Vandy (18-11, 7-8 Southeastern Conference) upset the Tigers (25-5, 13-2).
Northwestern 64, No. 19 Purdue 61: Kevin Coble scored 16 points as the Wildcats (17-11, 8-9 Big Ten) spoiled senior night for the Boilermakers (22-8, 11-6).
BIG 12 MEN
No. 15 Missouri 73, No. 4 Oklahoma 64: DeMarre Carroll’s 15 points and 10 rebounds led the Tigers to an upset at home.
Texas Tech 84, No. 9 Kansas 65: Alan Voskuil had nine 3-pointers and scored a career-high 35 points to lead the host Red Raiders (13-17, 3-12). Despite the loss, Kansas (24-6, 13-2) clinched at least a share of the regular-season title, its fifth straight and ninth in the conference’s 13 seasons.
Nebraska 77, Iowa State 61: Ade Dagunduro tied his career high with 24 points as the host Huskers (17-11, 7-8) defeated the Cyclones (14-16, 3-12).
MOUNTAIN WEST MEN
BYU 78, Wyoming 68: Lee Cummard scored 24 points as the visiting Cougars (23-6, 11-6) outscored the Cowboys (18-11, 7-8) 21-8 in the final eight minutes. BYU is tied with New Mexico and Utah for first place in the conference with one game to go. Sean Ogirri scored 25 points — 17 in the first half — to lead Wyoming.
UNLV 46, Air Force 43: Andrew Henke scored 19 points for the Falcons (9-19, 0-15), who have not won since Dec. 28 at Dartmouth. Wink Adams had 11 points to lead host UNLV (21-8, 9-6).
San Diego State 68, Colorado State 59: Marcus Walker scored 24 points to lead the visiting Rams (9-21, 4-12) on the road. Tim Shelton and Ryan Amoroso each scored 14 points for SDSU (20-8, 10-5).
TOP 25 WOMEN
No. 3 Oklahoma 61, Texas Tech 49: Courtney Paris had 12 points and 16 rebounds for the host Sooners (26-3, 14-1 Big 12).
Kansas 69, No. 5 Baylor 45: Danielle McCray scored a career-high 35 points, including seven 3-pointers, and the host Jayhawks (17-11, 6-9 Big 12) dominated the Bears (23-5, 11-4), who were playing without Danielle Wilson, their top scorer and rebounder.
Kansas State 66, No. 15 Texas 50: Marlies Gipson scored 24 points as the host Wildcats (22-6, 9-6 Big 12) upset Texas (20-9, 8-7).
Miami (Ohio) 45, No. 25 Bowling Green 40: The visiting Falcons (25-3, 14-1 Mid-American) had their 25-game winning streak end.
MOUNTAIN WEST WOMEN
UNLV 64, Air Force 63: Jamie Smith’s layup with 10 seconds left capped a 22-point rally for the Rebels (11-16, 5-10) at Air Force (4-24, 0-15).
San Diego State 68, Colorado State 66: Jene Morris scored 31 points to lead the visiting Aztecs.
Wyoming 57, BYU 55: The Cowgirls (16-12, 8-7) held off the visiting Cougars (17-10, 7-8), despite 20 points and 12 rebounds from Cassie King.
Denver Post staff & wire services
