Dec. 30, 2004

Box Score

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The University of Denver lost its second consecutive game on the road tonight against Colorado State in Moby Arena, 81-69. Sophomore forward Antonio Porch (Denver, Colo.) led the Pioneers with 13 points and 10 rebounds for his second career double-double. The Pioneers drop to an even 5-5 while the Rams improve to 8-4.

Denver jumped out to an early five point lead (11-6) with 14:26 left. A 3-pointer by senior guard Erik Benzel (Spokane, Wash.) at 15:27 gave Denver a seven-point lead. CSU didn't give up as basket by Dwight Boatner helped the Rams pull ahead 15-14 with 11:45 left in the first. The Pioneers would only add three more points in over the next four minutes of play from a free throw by junior center Yemi Nicholson (Aurora, Colo.) and a basket from Porch.

The Pioneers rallied to pull ahead 33-32 with 2:13 left in the first on a 3-pointer from senior guard Rodney Billups (Denver, Colo.), but five points from the Rams left the Pioneers to come from behind with 35 seconds left in the half. Billups sunk his second consecutive 3-pointer with three seconds left in the first to help the Pioneers come with in three points (35-38) at halftime.

Denver made 49 percent of their shots from the field (13-of-31), while CSU sunk 70 percent of its attempts (14-of-20) in the first half. The Pioneers nailed six from downtown while the Rams made just one on four attempts.

Billups (13) and Porch (9) combined for 22 points in the first, while Boatner led the Rams with 13.

CSU jumped out to an early 11-point lead in the second half with Matt Nelson tallying nine of those 11 points. Nicholson's three points including a dunk kept the Pioneers within 11 points (50-61) with eight minutes left to play.

Another basket by Nicholson with 3:45 left helped to pull Denver within six points (63-69), but a jumper by Nelson and a 3-pointer by CSU's Micheal Morris put the Rams ahead 66-74. Another Benzel 3-pointer were the last points the Pioneers would score in the game as the Rams pulled off the win, 81-69.

The Pioneers were just 38.7 percent from the field (24-of-62) while the Rams were 56.5 percent (26-of-46). Benzel and Billups led all Pioneer scorers with 15 points, while CSU's Nelson led all scorers with 29. Porch added 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double performance. This was Porch's second career double-double game of the season.

The Pioneers play the fourth game of a five-game road schedule on Tuesday, Jan. 4, when they travel to Laramie, Wyo. to face regional-rival Wyoming at 7 p.m.