HOT SPRINGS, Ark. Sophomore forward Rob Lewis (Colorado Springs, Colo.) scored a career-high 27 points, but the University of Denver men’s basketball team fell 58-55 to Arkansas-Little Rock in the Quarterfinals Round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at Summit Arena on Sunday night.

With No. 7 seeded Denver (15-16) leading by three points, UALR’s John Fowler hit a pair of three-pointers in the final 1:25, his only field goals of the game, to give the No. 2 seeded Trojans (23-7) the three-point victory.

Junior forward Nate Rohnert (Parker, Colo.), who scored 11 points and dished out a game-high eight assists, had two chances to tie the game in the final five seconds, but neither three-point attempt would fall.

"It was a great basketball game," head coach Joe Scott said. "You’ve got to give credit to UALR’s seniors. They won the game for them and played extremely well down the stretch.

"As far as we’re concerned, we had a good year. We’re building a good program. Our guys know we are. We’ve got good, young players. On some level this game was like a microcosm of our year."

Rob Lewis was rolling early for the Pioneers, scoring DU’s first 15 points. Freshman Justin Coughlin (Yuma, Colo.) hit a three-pointer and Rohnert had a three-point play to give Denver a 21-11 lead with 8:44 left in the first half.

UALR clawed back to within 27-23 with 4:35 remaining before the break, but a pair of layups by freshman Sabatino Chen (Louisville, Colo.) and a three-pointer by sophomore Kyle Lewis (Denver, Colo.) stretched DU’s lead back to 10 points with 2:13 left in the half.

Rohnert hit three free throws in the final 1:20 of the half to send the Pioneers to the locker room with a 37-26 lead. Denver hit 10-of-20 (50.0 percent) from the field in the half, connecting on 5-of-12 (41.7 percent) from beyond the three-point arc. UALR hit 10-of-19 (52.6 percent) but went 0-for-2 from three-point range.

The Pioneers stretched the lead to 42-28 to start the second half, but UALR fought back with a 10-0 run to cut the lead to four points with 15:25 remaining in the game.

The Trojans tied the game at 50-50 with 7:00 remaining after a six-point run, which was halted by a Rob Lewis three-point play at the 5:19 mark.

Shane Edwards led the Trojans with 21 points, while Mike Smith chipped in 11 points.

SBC Tournament Men’s Schedule of Events

Semifinals Monday, March 9, 2009 Summit Arena

5:30 p.m. MT Game 5 No. 1 Western Kentucky vs. No. 4 North Texas (ESPN+/SBC Extra/Sirius Channel 91)

8:00 p.m. MT Game 6 No. 2 UALR vs. the winner of No. 3 Troy vs. No. 6 South Alabama (ESPN+/SBC Extra/Sirius Channel 91)

Finals Tuesday, March 10, 2009 Summit Arena

8:00 p.m. MT Championship Game (ESPN2/Sirius Channel 91)