There was a right way and a wrong way to start their Sun Belt Conference season — and the University of Denver Pioneers got it right.
Withstanding a closing rush by Louisiana-Lafayette, DU escaped with a 65-52 victory Thursday night at Magness Arena.
The Pioneers (5-9, 1-0 Sun Belt) finished it off with a 12-2 run in the last 4:03, leaving the Ragin’ Cajuns in the dust. A pair of three-point field goals by Travis Hallam and 4-of-4 shooting from the line by Kyle Lewis triggered the winning burst.
For coach Joe Scott, it was a pleasure to see all eight players used in the game contribute points, led by 13 each from Hallam and his brother Chase.
“Over our last three games, we’ve had everybody contributing,” Scott said. “Three games aren’t habit, but we’re getting contributions. It’s not just scoring points.”
The first of Travis Hallam’s three-pointers took the breath out of a late rally by Louisiana-Lafayette and opened a 60-50 lead with 1:25 to play.
“If you want to win, you have to have five, six players contributing,” Scott said. “I was happy the way we started the game, and I was happy the way we played the last four minutes.”
The Pioneers set a Magness Arena record with 14-of-14 free throws, their best performance at the line since a 19-of-19 performance in 2005 at New Mexico State.
Louisiana-Lafayette (2-10, 0-1) hit the Pioneers with a press to begin the second half.
“Their press slowed us down a little,” Chase Hallam said. “Finally, in the last four minutes we took off. We figured it out and went from there.”
With guard Josh Brown leading the way offensively, the Ragin’ Cajuns trimmed DU’s lead to 39-33 midway in the second half.
With their lead trimmed to two points with 7:31 to play, the Pioneers caught fire: A drive by Tyler Thalken, a block by Chris Udofia and two free throws by Udofia helped DU to a 47-41 lead.
The Pioneers had their shooting touch in the first half, hitting 50 percent from the field.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE (2-10, 0-1 Sun Belt)
Mbamalu 2-4 4-4 8, Farrington 3-3 0-1 6, Thomas 3-10 5-7 11, Brown 3-7 2-6 8, Andrews 2-6 4-8 8, Daigle 2-5 0-0 5, Bureau 0-0 0-0 0, Batiste 0-1 0-0 0, Perez 1-6 0-0 3, Wallace 0-0 1-2 1, Gary 0-2 2-2 2, Mitchell 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-44 18-30 52.
DENVER (5-9, 1-0)
Hooper 3-6 0-0 6, Stafford 1-1 2-2 5, Thalken 2-3 4-4 9, T. Hallam 5-8 0-0 13, C. Hallam 5-10 2-2 13, K. Lewis 2-3 4-4 9, Coughlin 2-6 0-0 4, Udofia 2-3 2-2 6. Totals 22-40 14-14 65.
Halftime — Denver 33-21. 3-point goals — Louisiana-Lafayette 2-6 (Daigle 1-2, Perez 1-4), Denver 7-17 (T. Hallam 3-5, Stafford 1-1, Thalken 1-1, K. Lewis 1-2, C. Hallam 1-2, Udofia 0-1, Hooper 0-2, Coughlin 0-3). Fouled out — Brown, Stafford, Udofia. Rebounds — Louisiana-Lafayette 27 (Thomas 7), Denver 25 (T. Hallam, Thalken 5). Assists — Louisiana-Lafayette 6 (Andrews, Brown, Bureau, Daigle, Gary, Thomas 1), Denver 14 (Coughlin 5). Total fouls — Louisiana-Lafayette 21, Denver 28. A — 1,188.
