Dec. 21, 2002

Box Score

CAGUAS, Puerto Rico - Nathan Watson scored 19 points to lead Auburn to a 63-58 victory over the University of Denver men's basketball team on Saturday night at the San Juan Shootout. With the loss the Pioneers fall to 5-5, while the Tigers improve to 7-2.

Watson had five 3-pointers, the last with 1:26 left that broke a 55-all tie and gave Auburn its first lead in 5 minutes. After a miss by Denver, Marco Killingsworth worked inside for a layup with 46 seconds left.

Senior captain B.J. Pratt (San Antonio, Texas) hit a long 3-pointer for Denver, but the Pioneers managed nothing else.

Pratt had 19 points for Denver, which will play Duquesne in the third-place game Sunday.

Junior forward Carvell McAlister (Fresno, Calif.) had 16 points and sophomore point guard Rodney Billups (Denver, Colo.) added 10.

Marquis Daniels had 12 points for the Tigers, and Killingsworth added 10.

The Pioneers went ahead 51-49 with eight straight points, taking the lead when McAlister made a strong move to score inside with 6:24 left. That came just 30 seconds after a 3-pointer by Pratt had tied the game.

After Pratt hit a 3-pointer to give Denver a 15-14 lead with 10:31 left in the first half, both team went scoreless for more than three minutes before Nathan Watson scored with 7:03 left to put Auburn ahead. The Tigers had a 30-27 halftime lead after Lewis Monroe made a shot high off the glass.

Denver will face Duquesne tomorrow in the consolation game of the San Juan Shootout. Game time is set for 1:30 p.m. MST and can be heard via tape delay on AM 1600 at 4 p.m. MST.