CEDAR FALLS, Iowa Junior forward Nate Rohnert (Parker, Colo.) scored a career-high 20 points, but the University of Denver men’s basketball team was edged 61-56 by Northern Iowa in DU’s season opener at the McLeod Center on Saturday afternoon.

Rohnert added a team-high five rebounds, while sophomore guard Kyle Lewis (Denver, Colo.) added 15 points and sophomore forward Rob Lewis (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had 13 points.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win today, and that’s our players and coaches’ jobs every game we play,” head coach Joe Scott said. “As we get older and tougher and continue to learn from those experiences, that’s how you learn to win on the road. We’ll know we’ve made progress if we put ourselves in the same position to win next week. That’s when every guy will know that we’re making progress.”

Denver (0-1) held a one-point lead with 4:22 remaining in the game, but the Panthers (1-0) outscored the Pioneers 17-11 the rest of the way.

The game started slowly, as Northern Iowa got off to a 5-0 lead. Denver finally scored with 14:36 remaining in the half, when freshman guard Brian Stafford (Walnut Creek, Calif.) scored on a backdoor cut.

The Pioneers clawed their way back, tying the game on a three-point play by Rob Lewis with 9:32 to go in the half, and the teams traded the lead through the rest of the half.

Denver headed to halftime with a 20-19 lead, despite shooting just 38.9 percent from the field and hitting 1-of-10 from three-point range.

The second half started just like the first half ended with the teams trading the lead and neither side holding more than a four-point lead until the Panthers went on a six-point run, all on free throws, to take a 50-45 lead with 3:05 remaining. Kyle Lewis scored DU’s first 11 points after the break.

Rob Lewis converted on a three-point play to cut the lead, but UNI extended it back to six points with 1:31 left.

Freshman guard Sabatino Chen (Louisville, Colo.) nailed a three-pointer, his first collegiate bucket, with 1:13 remaining to bring the game back to within three points, but UNI’s Johnny Moran drilled a three-pointer and hit a pair of free throws to send the game out of reach.

Northern Iowa was led by 7-foot-1 center Jordan Eglseder’s 17 points and Moran’s 10 rebounds.

Denver next travels to Beaumont, Texas for a matchup with Lamar on Sat., Nov. 22.