MBB v IPFW (9 JAN 16) - Highlights
MBB v IPFW (9 JAN 16) - Full Game
MBB v IPFW (9 JAN 16) - Post Game

Box Score

DENVER - Joe Rosga (St. Paul, Minn.) led the Pioneers with 20 points and a career-best five assists, as the University of Denver men's basketball team fell to the IPFW Mastodons 65-64 Saturday afternoon in Magness Arena.

Denver trailed for the entire second half until Nate Engesser (Colorado Springs, Colo.) buried a 3-pointer to give Denver a 58-56 lead with 3:55 remaining in the game. IPFW answered with a Max Landis 3-pointer and a Mo Evans bucket to take a 61-58 lead.

The final 30 seconds was a hectic finish as two free throws by Engesser got Denver within one. DU fouled Landis who put IPFW back up three with 10.3 remaining. Following a Crimson and Gold timeout, Fort Wayne went to intentionally foul Engesser, but he managed to get a 3-point attempt off. The senior knocked down the first foul shot, had the second one go in-and-out and missed the third intentionally.

Landis knocked down two free throws with 2.4 seconds remaining to ice the game and a Rosga 3-pointer at the buzzer sealed the final score.

"Tough result. Got to learn to live with some tough results right now because I thought we played with some guts," head coach Joe Scott said. "Like I've said before on earlier occasions this year, this team's a different team this year. We've definitely got more guts. We've hung in there. I've used the term staying power with our team over and over again."

IPFW opened the second half with a dunk from Brent Calhoun to open a 33-24 lead. The Pioneers answered with a 7-0 run with five points from Rosga as he knocked down a 3-pointer followed by a layup attempt that was called for goaltending. A jumper from Marcus Byrd (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) got DU within 2. The Mastodons countered with a 10-4 run to give them a 43-35 lead.

DU responded with back-to-back 3-pointers from Engesser and Rosga to make the score 43-41. The Mastodons forced the Pioneers into a couple of turnovers and extended the lead back to 49-41.

The Crimson and Gold would not go away without a fight as Rosga scored five-straight to cut the lead back down to 49-46.

Engesser finished with 15 points, Byrd chipped in with 12 points and Jake Holtzmann (Parker, Colo.) added a season-best five rebounds.

C.J. Bobbitt (Harker Heights, Texas) finished with four points and four rebounds.

Denver bounced back after a poor shooting first half to finish shooting 43.1 percent (22-of-51), while IPFW finished shooting 50.0 percent (20-of-40). The Pioneers finished the game hitting 32.3 percent (10-of-31) from beyond the arc compared to the Mastodons' 47.1 percent (8-of-17).

"We showed staying power," Scott continued. "The type that we didn't have last year, so I give our guys credit for that. That's important, that's especially important in league play. It's important in college basketball. We've got to live with the tough result, but I liked our toughness today and the more we do that the more they're going to teach themselves, and we're going to help them teach themselves, how to get the right result there."

IPFW jumped out to an early 5-2 lead before back-to-back 3-pointers from Neff and Engesser gave Denver its first lead of the game at 8-5. A 5-0 run gave the Mastodons a 10-8 lead. The teams traded leads for the next several minutes. With Denver leading 14-13, Fort Wayne rattled off a 12-3 run to give them their biggest lead off the first half at 8. The Crimson and Gold cut the lead to five when Engesser was fouled shooting a 3-pointer and knocked down all three free throw attempts. IPFW scored four of the final six points of the half to take a 31-24 lead into the locker room.

Denver was cold from the floor shooting 33.3 percent (9-of-27), while IPFW hit for 47.4 percent (9-of-19) in the first 20 minutes. The Pioneers hit just 17.6 percent (3-of-17) from behind the arc, while the Mastodons knocked down 40.0 percent (2-of-5) in the first half. Denver hit 60.0 percent (3-of-5) from the foul line compared to 73.3 percent (11-of-15) for Fort Wayne.

Thomas Neff (Arvada, Colo.) led the Pioneers in the first with eight points, while Engesser chipped in with six. A trio of Mastodons scored seven points apiece.

IPFW was led by Landis's 19 points.

Notes: The Pioneers have now hit a 3-pointer in 302 consecutive games.

Up Next: Denver will head back on the road for a two-game trip, first up will be Western Illinois on Thursday, Jan.14 with tip-off scheduled at 6 p.m. MT in Macomb. The game can be heard on Mile High Sports Radio AM1340 with Raj Sharan on play-by-play duties and streamed on Pioneer Vision via audio only. For subscription information to Pioneer Vision please visit www.denverpioneers.com.

Tickets: Fans interested in purchasing tickets to upcoming Denver men's basketball home games can do so by phone at 303-871-2336, in person at the Ritchie Center box office or through DenverPioneers.com by clicking here.

JOIN THE PIONEER NATION

Like Denver Pioneers, Denver Men's Basketball on Facebook

Follow @DU_Pioneers, @DU_MHoops on Twitter

Follow denverpioneers, du_mhoops on Instagram

Pioneer Men's Basketball Home