HOT SPRINGS, ARK. — The Denver Pioneers’ season ended Monday night with a 63-56 loss to second-seeded North Texas in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament.
The sixth-seeded Pioneers finished with a record of 19-13 and went 5-2 in their last seven games. They improved on last season’s mark of 15-16.
After taking an early 13-4 lead in the first half, the Pioneers went ice cold, going more than 7 1/2 minutes without a score and finishing the half shooting only 33 percent. Meanwhile, North Texas went on a 21-3 run led by the inside play of George Odufuwa, who had 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting during the run.
But in the second half, the Pioneers chipped away at the lead, finally cutting it to one point with less than seven minutes to go with a basket by senior team captain Nate Rohnert. But North Texas’s Josh White scored five straight points to stretch the lead to six, and the Mean Green never relinquished the advantage.
Rohnert led the Pioneers in scoring with 16 points. Freshman guard Chase Hallam scored 13, and sophomore guard Brian Stafford added 12.
North Texas plays top-seeded Troy in the final Tuesday night.
