Slow Start Ends in Pokes’ First Loss

It took eight minutes for the Pokes to get things together on offense against Denver Tuesday night. By that time, the Pioneers had a 16-point lead. After a convincing win over Colorado-Colorado Springs in their home opener, the Cowboys fall to 1-1 in non-conference play.

The Princeton offense knocked the Cowboys on their heels, and they never recovered.

Adam Tanner scored 21 points, and Denver held onto a big first-half lead to beat Wyoming 76-65 in Denver Tuesday night.

The Pioneers had their way on offense from the opening tip, finding open areas on the three-point line and exploiting the Pokes’ man-to-man defense with backdoor cuts. Tanner scored 10 of the team’s first 12 points, and Denver opened up a commanding 21-5 lead with 12:05 left in the first half.

Wyoming (1-1) answered with a 15-3 run to pull within 24-20 with 4:54 to go, but the Pioneers finished the first half on an 11-4 run to take a 35-24 advantage into the break.

Tanner opened the second half with an assist and a pair of three-pointers, and Denver (2-1) extended its lead to 43-28 with 17:47 left in the game. A 9-0 Pioneer run made the score 52-32 less than four minutes later.

Denver’s seventh team foul put the Cowboys in the bonus with 14:04 to go, and free throws helped the Pokes mount a 17-5 run to pull within 65-55 with 5:38 to go.

After scoring just two points in the first half for the second straight game, Brandon Ewing sparked the Cowboys out of halftime, hitting seven of eight free throws and scoring 18 second-half points.

He got plenty of help from Brad Jones, who finished the game with 16 points, but the duo’s effort wasn’t enough. After picking up his fourth foul early in the second half, Denver point guard Kyle Lewis re-entered the game with just more than five minutes remaining and scored eight of the next 10 Pioneer points to extend the lead to 14 in the final minute.

The Cowboys will travel to Beaumont, Texas to take on Lamar University Monday, Nov. 19.