MISSOULA, Mont. Sophomore guard Kyle Lewis (Denver, Colo.) buried a pull-up jumper with 1.9 seconds left in the game to give the University of Denver men’s basketball team a 67-65 victory over Texas-Arlington at Dahlberg Arena in DU’s final day of the Grizzly Basketball Invitational on Friday night.

                                                                                                 

On the ensuing inbounds play, Kyle Lewis stole the ball at half court and held on until the buzzer sounded. Kyle Lewis, who had left the game with 7:31 remaining after landing awkwardly, came back and ended the game with a season-high 16 points.

 

The win marked the first victory of the year for the Pioneers (1-5), as they defeated a UT-Arlington team that went to the NCAA Tournament last season.

 

“I felt we played well the whole game and put two good halves together for the first time this year,” head coach Joe Scott said. “We had to overcome some tough luck to get our first victory, but Kyle Lewis hit a huge shot to put us over the hump. Hopefully this first win will make our guys know we are going to continue to improve.”

 

Junior guard Nate Rohnert (Parker, Colo.) led the Pioneers with 19 points and seven rebounds, while freshman forward Justin Coughlin (Yuma, Colo.) scored 10 points in just his second NCAA Division I game.

 

Denver used a barrage of three-pointers to open the game on a 13-3 run over the first 5:13, including seven straight points to start the game.

 

Freshman guard Brian Stafford (Walnut Creek, Calif.) stretched the lead to 19-8 on a three-pointer with 12:27 left in the half.

 

Rohnert hit his second three-pointer of the game, and sophomore forward Rob Lewis (Colorado Springs, Colo.) got an offensive rebound and put-back to give DU a 24-11 lead with 9:25 on the clock.

 

Texas-Arlington (4-2) mounted a comeback with a 10-3 run that cut DU’s lead to 26-21 at the 4:20 mark.

 

Denver stretched the lead with three-pointers by sophomore guards Nigel Peter-Denman (Seattle, Wash.) and Kyle Lewis, and Rohnert before UTA’s Anthony Vereen hit a layup to end the half, as the Pioneers headed to the locker room with a 35-25 lead.

 

UT-Arlington opened the second half on a 7-2 run, but Denver kept its composure with back-to-back layups by Kyle Lewis and Rob Lewis, and consecutive three-pointers by Rohnert, freshman guard Travis Hallam (Mesquite, Texas) and Stafford to put the Pioneers up 50-37 with 14:12 left in the game.

 

The Mavericks chipped away at DU’s lead with a 12-3 run, culminating with a three-point play by Vereen at 3:52 remaining, that left Denver’s lead at 59-57.

 

Rohnert hit a pair of free throws, but Vereen countered with two of his own after being fouled by Rob Lewis, who fouled out on the play.

 

Stafford and Rohnert each made a free throw down the stretch, and freshman guard Sabatino Chen (Louisville, Colo.) scored on a backdoor cut to put the Pioneers up 65-62 with 1:19 remaining.

 

After the Mavericks tied it at 65-65 with a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left, Kyle Lewis buried a pull-up jumper from about 14 feet to put the Pioneers up with 1.9 seconds remaining.

 

The Pioneers next head to California for their final road game of 2008, when they meet Cal State Northridge on Tuesday at 8:05 p.m. MT. Following that game, DU will play five-straight games at Magness Arena, beginning with South Dakota State on Dec. 13 at 4 p.m.