DENVER – The University of Denver men's basketball team led nearly throughout, but dropped a one-possession heartbreaker to St. Thomas 79-76 on Saturday afternoon inside Hamilton Gymnasium.
The Pioneers (8-18, 2-9) had four players score in double figures, led by Sebastian Akins, who had 19 points, four assists and two steals. DeAndre Craig added 13 points and Nicholas Shogbonyo chipped in as well with 12 points off of the bench. Josh Lee rounded out Denver's four double-figure scorers with 11.
Denver collected 26 rebounds in Saturday's game compared to St. Thomas' 22, led by Craig's five boards.
NOTES:
- Denver led for 33:14 on Saturday.
- The Pioneers made half of their attempts from three point range, knocking down eight of 16 shots.
- The Denver bench made an impact by adding 34 points to its scoring output.
- Nicholas Shogbonyo and Josh Lee came off the bench to score 12 and 11 points, respectively.
- Sebastian Akins finished with 19 points, 4 assists and 2 steals.
- Akins finished in double figures for the second-straight game and the 17th time of his freshman season.
- DeAndre Craig finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
- Craig finished in double figures for the fifth-straight game, the 17th time this season and the 28th time in his career.
- Nicholas Shogbonyo finished with 12 points and 2 rebounds.
- Shogbonyo finished in double figures for the 18th time this season.
- Josh Lee finished with 11 points, and 2 rebounds.
- Lee has finished in double figures in eight games this season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After falling behind 4-3, Denver went on a 6-0 run with 17:01 left in the first half, culminating in a three from Jon Mani, to take a 9-4 lead. Denver led by as many as seven in the first half, but St. Thomas made a late run to take a one-point lead into the locker room.
Denver came out of halftime clicking on all cylinders, going on an 8-0 run, finished off by Josh Pickett's three, to seize a 45-38 lead with 16:27 to go in the contest. St. Thomas hung around and the Pioneers were unable to extend its advantage, but a late spurt from the Tommies gave the visitors a 79-76 win. Denver took care of business in the paint, recording 22 of its 39 points in the lane in the final 20 minutes.
UP NEXT:
Denver will make its annual North Dakota road trip next week starting with a date with the UND Fighting Hawks on Thursday at 6 p.m. MT. The game will be broadcast on the Summit League Network and 104.3 The Fan HD3.
TICKETS:
Get tickets for the 2024-25 season by clicking here.
DENVER'S HOME FOR COLLEGE SPORTS
Visit DenverPioneers.com for complete coverage of all 18 of DU's NCAA Division I sports.
Like Denver Men's Basketball and Denver Pioneers on Facebook
Follow @du_menshoops and @DU_Pioneers on Twitter
Follow @du_mhoops and @DenverPioneers on Instagram
