MIAMI, Fla. Florida International guard Michael Dominguez hit a pair of free throws with nine seconds remaining to break a tie and give FIU a 59-57 victory over the University of Denver men’s basketball team at the U.S. Century Bank Arena on Saturday night.

 

Junior forward Nate Rohnert (Parker, Colo.) led the Pioneers (7-11, 2-5 SBC) with 17 points, while redshirt freshman forward Andrew Hooper (Lakewood, Colo.) and freshmen guards Brian Stafford (Walnut Creek, Calif.) added 15 and 11 points, respectively.

 

“We gave ourselves a chance to win for the fourth-straight game on the road, but we just have not gotten over that hurdle,” head coach Joe Scott said. “We’re obviously developing the necessary consistency to be successful on the road. However, today we turned the ball over too many times, and you can’t win on the road if you do that. FIU did the things they needed to do, and that was reflected on the scoreboard.”

 

In a game that featured 13 ties and 13 lead changes, the Pioneers shot 50.0 percent (19-for-38) from the field in the game, while FIU hit 15-of-32 (46.9 percent) of their shots. However, the Golden Panthers made 27-of-38 free throws in the contest.

 

Florida International (8-12, 3-4 SBC) led by as many as eight points early in the second half, but the Pioneers clawed back and reclaimed the lead with the third three-pointer by Hooper in the half at the 15:09 mark in the second half.

 

Rohnert scored five-straight points to give DU a 43-39 lead with 13:35 remaining, but the Panthers responded with five of their own.

 

With the score tied at 46-46, Stafford hit a jumper, and Sabatino Chen (Louisville, Colo.) stole a pass and took it in for a layup, giving DU a 50-46 lead with 9:36 left in the game.

 

A three-pointer by Chen and a reverse layup by Rohnert at the 5:17 mark gave the Pioneers their largest lead of the night at 57-51.

 

The Panthers made a pair of baskets to cut the lead back to two points with 2:41 remaining, and Freddy Asprilla made a layup with 1:04 left to tie the game at 57-57.

 

The teams traded buckets and the lead throughout the first half with neither team leading by more than three points until FIU went on a 7-2 run to end the half, sending the Golden Panthers into the break with a 29-25 advantage.

 

FIU’s Asprilla led all players with 20 points and eight rebounds.

 

The Pioneers return home for their annual PACK THE HOUSE game next week. Denver will take on last year’s NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 team Western Kentucky at Magness Arena on Sat., Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. MT.