LAFAYETTE, La. Freshman forward Rob Lewis (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored 16 points and pulled down nine rebounds in a hard-fought game, but the University of Denver men’s basketball team came up short in a 58-51 loss to Louisiana-Lafayette in DU’s final regular season game at the Cajundome on Saturday night.

 

“We put ourselves in a great position to win, but turnovers in the final four minutes cost us the game,” head coach Joe Scott said. “We have our staples, and we are getting better at them. That’s what it takes to win, especially on the road, but we need to maintain those staples for 40 minutes.”

 

Denver (11-17, 7-10 SBC) shot 51.3 percent in the game, outshooting the Ragin’ Cajuns (15-14, 11-7 SBC), who hit 45.5 percent. However, the Pioneers committed 19 turnovers to only 12 by ULL.

 

With a one-point lead to start the second half, Rob Lewis scored two baskets to extend the Pioneers’ lead to 32-27. However, ULL forward Chris Gradnigo hit three-straight three-pointers and Randell Daigle scored on a fast break to put the Cajuns up by six points with 14:45 remaining in the game.

 

Rob Lewis cut the lead to one after another pair of buckets, and after ULL scored again, freshman guard Xander McNally (San Francisco, Calif.) tied the game with a three-pointer. Rob Lewis put DU back in front with a three-pointer from the right corner with 11:24 remaining.

 

The teams again traded baskets for the next five minutes until junior guard Joe Jackson (New Orleans, La.) tied the game at 49-49 with a reverse layup at 5:42.

 

Two straight baskets by ULL gave the Ragin’ Cajuns a four-point lead, but a put-back by sophomore forward Nate Rohnert (Parker, Colo.) cut the deficit back to two with 2:27 left in the game.

 

ULL’s Courtney Wallace scored to give the Cajuns a 55-51 lead at the 1:57 mark, and the Ragin’ Cajuns sealed the game with three free throws in the final 23 seconds.

 

ULL opened the game by scoring the first seven points, but a 7-0 Denver run tied the game at the 14:23 mark.

 

After ULL scored, senior center Adam Tanner (Melbourne, Australia) tied the game with a jumper, and McNally stole the ball and gave the Pioneers their first lead of the game with a layup at 11:02.

 

The teams traded buckets, but a backdoor layup by McNally with 35 seconds left gave Denver a 28-27 lead at the half.

 

Jackson added 10 points for the Pioneers, and McNally had a game-high four steals. Gradnigo led the Ragin’ Cajuns with 24 points, while Daigle added 11 points.

 

Denver will play the first round game of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at New Orleans on Wednesday, March 5 at 6 p.m. MT.