DENVER The University of Denver men’s basketball team fell to the visiting New Orleans Privateers 60-54 in the team’s final home game of the regular season Sunday evening at Magness Arena.

 

The Pioneers honored their two seniors, center Adam Tanner (Melbourne, Australia) and forward David Kummer (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) prior to the start of Sunday’s game.

 

A trio of Pioneers scored in double figures in the loss. Tanner led Denver with 18 points while freshman forward Rob Lewis (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had 13 points before fouling out with 5:10 remaining. Sophomore forward Nate Rohnert (Parker, Colo.) recorded 12 points and five rebounds.

 

“These last two games have been hard-fought, close games,” head coach Joe Scott said. “Obviously I would have liked a different outcome, but in a way I’m glad we’re going through this. This experience really tests the guys, and the more we learn in these games, the better we will be down the road.”

 

Denver (11-16, 7-9 SBC) received six assists from freshman guard Xander McNally (San Francisco, Calif.), who also recorded two points, three steals and two blocks.

 

New Orleans (18-10, 8-8 SBC) was led by Bo McCalebb, who had a game-high 22 points, two rebounds, three assists and four steals.

 

Junior guard Joe Jackson (New Orleans, La.) and UNO’s Kyndall Dykes led all players with six rebounds each.

 

“Things didn’t go our way tonight, like when Rob Lewis got his fifth foul” Scott said. “If we would have had a layup there instead, maybe the game would have been different.”

 

Rob Lewis had six of Denver’s first 10 points while Bo McCalebb had 11 of UNO’s first 15. New Orleans led 15-10 with 11:47 remaining in the first half.

 

The Pioneers cut UNO’s lead to one at 25-24 with 2:58 remaining in the half when McNally recorded his third steal of the game and launched the ball down court for a Rob Lewis layup.

 

Tanner gave Denver its first lead since the 6:18 mark of the half with a jumper to make it 28-27 with 43 seconds to play in the opening stanza. UNO responded with an Asrangue Souleymane dunk, but a shot by Tanner beat the buzzer to give the Pioneers a 30-29 lead at halftime.

 

Rob Lewis and Tanner each had 10 first half points for DU. Tanner also recorded four assists in the opening 20 minutes.

 

Rohnert extended the lead to three with a layup to open the second half, but Shaun Reynolds hit a three-pointer for UNO to tie the score at 32-32 just 1:16 into the half.

 

The teams traded three-pointers for a 35-35 tie with 17:41 remaining, but McCalebb’s three for the Privateers sparked a 12-0 UNO run and New Orleans led 44-38 with 12:56 to play.

 

DU responded with a 7-2 run to come within one at 46-45 with 9:12 remaining. New Orleans went up 48-45 with two free throws by Dykes at the 13-minute mark of the half.

 

A Jackson layup with 4:31 to play again brought the Pioneers within one at 48-47. However, New Orleans used four free throws to take a five point lead 52-47 with 3:45 to play.

 

McCalebb hit a jumper to extend the UNO lead to seven, but Jackson brought DU back within five at 54-49 with a pair of free throws with 1:45 remaining.

 

After McCalebb made two free throws, Tanner hit a three-pointer with 32 seconds remaining to bring the Pioneers within four at 56-52.

 

Two free throws by Reynolds and a dunk by Dykes in the final 27 seconds sealed the victory for the Privateers.

 

The Pioneers hit 20-of-43 field goals (46.5 percent) in the game after hitting 13-of-22 (59.1 percent) from the field in the first half. Meanwhile, UNO sunk 20-of-39 field goals (51.3 percent) in the game. The teams combined to make 25-of-28 (89.3 percent) free throw attempts with New Orleans sinking 15-of-16 (93.8 percent) from the line.

 

Denver concludes regular season play with two games on the road, beginning with Arkansas-Little Rock on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. MT.