Nov. 19, 2005

Box Score

FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - Denver used a stingy defense and found its shooting touch in the second half to defeat Southern Mississippi 44-30 Saturday in the semifinals of the BP Top of the World Classic.

The Pioneers (2-0) trailed 21-17 at halftime but allowed just nine points in the second half. Denver will face Illinois-Chicago in the championship.

Denver shot 35 percent from the field in the first half. The Golden Eagles (1-1) were not much better, hitting 9-of-24 field goals - 38 percent.

Yemi Nicholson ignited the Pioneers in the second half.

Nicholson started a 20-2 run with a turnaround jumper with 15:25 remaining. He scored three more field goals on dunks or short jumpers to push the Pioneers to a 25-23 lead with 11:14 left remaining.

After the teams exchanged free throws, Nicholson dunked and DaShawn Walker hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead to 37-25 with 6:07 remaining.

The Golden Eagles went without a field goal for a 12-minute span that ended with 4:06 remaining. They shot just 2-of-18 from the field in the second half.

Nicholson scored 14 points and Walker finished with 13 for the Pioneers.

Jason Forte led Southern Mississippi with 10 points and Courtney Beasley had nine.

The Pioneers will take on Illinois-Chicago in the championship game of the Tenth Annual BP Top of the World Classic on Sun., Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. MT. This game can also be heard live on KCKK AM 1600, www.DenverPioneers.com and www.towc.org. Live stats are also available on www.towc.org.

Notes: With his three blocks, Nicholson moved into second all-time on DU's blocked-shot list with 128. He is two shy of the school record (130). The Pioneers open the season 2-0 for the first time since the 1996-97 season (Division II). The 1996-97 season (Division II) also marked the last time DU opened 3-0.