BEAUMONT, Texas Freshman guard Brian Stafford (Walnut Creek, Calif.) scored a team-high 14 points in his second career game, but the University of Denver men’s basketball team fell to Lamar 61-48 at the Montagne Center on Saturday night.

“We looked like a young team tonight, and we were inconsistent,” head coach Joe Scott said. “Lamar’s experience showed with four seniors and a junior, and they played exactly how they wanted to play tonight. Our guys have to fight through tough losses like this and learn from these experiences.”

Lamar (3-0) started out the game on a 9-1 run, but the Pioneers (0-2) stormed back with a balanced 15-2 run of their own with four starters scoring during the stretch.

Stafford scored seven-straight points down the stretch, upping his total to eight before the break, but the Cardinals went to halftime with a 33-27 lead.

The Cardinals opened the second half with a three-point play, but Denver countered with a three-pointer by redshirt freshman forward Andrew Hooper (Lakewood, Colo.), who scored his first 10 career points tonight.

Stafford traded buckets with the Cardinals, scoring six points, over the following five minutes. However, Lamar scored six-straight points to extend the lead to 13 points before sophomore forward Rob Lewis (Colorado Springs, Colo.) ended the streak with a three-pointer. Lewis had 13 points in the game.

Tristan Worrell led the way for the Cardinals with 14 points and eight rebounds. The Lamar win extended their home court winning streak to 15 games.

Denver returns to Magness Arena for the home opener against Northern Colorado on Wed., Nov. 26 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on FSN Rocky Mountain and AM1510 Mile High Sports Radio.