DENVER – The University of Denver men's basketball team dropped its Summit League opener on Sunday, falling 66-55 to preseason favorite North Dakota State in Magness Arena. The Pioneers were led by Ade Murkey, who recorded his second double-double of the year in the loss.

Murkey finished with 15 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Jase Townsend added 17 points and seven rebounds, which included going 3-for-4 from deep.

The Bison were powered by Vinnie Shahid's game-high 19 points.

Both teams kept it close in the first 10 minutes of action, with the score tied at 16-16 halfway through the opening half. Townsend was hot on the offensive end, scoring seven quick points for Denver.

A 7-0 run from North Dakota State pushed the lead to 26-19 after a Tyler Witz layup at the 7:25 mark.

The Pioneers, though, fought their way back into the contest, taking the lead at 31-28 after a 3 from Roscoe Eastmond, part of a seven-point first half from the freshman.

North Dakota State was able to score at the buzzer to tie it up at 33-33 on a 3 from Maleeck Harden-Hayes.

Townsend was key for the Crimson and Gold in the period, scoring all of his 17 points on the afternoon in the period.

NDSU opened the second half on a 10-5 run over the first 5:08, taking a 43-40 lead to the under-16 media timeout.

The Bison defense held DU to 1-of-10 from the field over a 5:25 span to start the period to take a 49-44 advantage by the under-eight media timeout.

Chris Quayle extended the NDSU lead to eight, their largest lead of the game at the time with 4:06 to play.

Murkey finished a second-chance layup just 21 seconds later that ended a 3:18 span without a field goal for Denver and cut the NDSU lead to six at 56-50.

David Nzekwesi went 1-of-2 at the charity stripe to bring the Crimson and Gold within five at 60-55 with 1:56 remaining in the contest.

But the Bison defense held DU without a field goal for the final 3:45, while ending the game on a 6-0 run over the final 1:36 en route to a 66-55 victory.

UP NEXT:
Denver (4-11, 0-1 Summit League) returns to action on Jan. 2 to play against North Dakota in Magness Arena.  Game is set for 7 p.m. MT tip and can be seen on Altitude 2.  

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