BOWLING GREEN, Ky.—Brian Stafford scored 12 of his 17 points in the first half to lead Denver to a 62-59 victory over Western Kentucky on Thursday night.
A 12-2 run by the Hilltoppers late in the game helped trim an 18-point Pioneers’ lead to 59-57 with 39 seconds remaining. Stafford sealed the game by making two free throws with 9 seconds remaining to give Denver a 61-57 lead.
The Pioneers won on the road for just the fifth time in the past 62 games.
Travis Hallam chipped in 15 points while Chase Hallam had 11 points and 9 rebounds for the Pioneers. Denver only played seven players for the game, and they all scored.
Denver (7-9, 3-0 Sun Belt Conference) led 37-22 at the half on 17 of 30 shooting in the opening half while Western Kentucky (5-9, 0-2) shot just 9 of 26. The Hilltoppers scored the first basket of the game for their only lead.
Stafford shot 5 of 6 from the field in the first half to pace the Pioneers’ attack.
Denver was able to get easy baskets in the paint throughout the game as they had assists on 15 of their 26 baskets for the game.
The Hilltoppers were able to stay in the game due to a 39-24 rebounding advantage with 21 second-chance points.
Western Kentucky had 11 turnovers, down from their average of 16.9 per game, but the Pioneers were able to score 17 points off of the Hilltoppers’ miscues.
The Hilltoppers were just 1 of 8 from behind the 3-point line, and made their lone 3 with just 50.9 seconds remaining in the game to keep their streak of 719 straight games with a 3-point field goal alive.
Juan Pattillo led the Hilltoppers with 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Sergio Kerusch also had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Pattillo scored all of Western Kentucky’s bench points for the game.
