Pioneers defend home court, snap Lions' winning streak

By Press release submission

Dec 10, 2022

In a game with 10 lead changes, the Denver Pioneers picked up an 84-75 win on their home floor inside the Hamilton Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon over the Texas A&M University-Commerce men's basketball, snapping the Lions' three-game winning streak.

Denver improves to 8-1 on the season, while the Lions fall to 4-5 on the season, having played eight of their nine games away from home.

Four Lions scored in double digits on Sunday and the Lion bench outscored the Pioneer bench, 35-12. Jerome Brewer, Jr. (Camden, N.J.) added 15 points as well as four rebounds and four assists, coming off the bench. Demarcus Demonia (Fort Washington, Md.) tallied 13 points, nine rebounds, two assists, and a steal.

Both Kalen Williams (Augusta, Ga.) and Alonzo Dodd (St. Paul, Minn.) scored 12 points each. Williams dished out two assists, while Dodd posted three rebounds, three assists, three steals, and a block.

For the first seven minutes of the game, neither team was able to build a lead bigger than five points. Denver went on a 9-0 run to go up 20-11, but the Lions scored 10 of the next 12 to pull to within one. A 7-0 run by the Lions gave them a 30-27 lead. Luka Vasic (Pirot, Serbia) drilled a fast break three-pointer with 17 seconds left to give the Lions their largest lead of the game, 39-33.

The Lions ended the first half making 12 of their last 13 shots from the field. Denver scored the final two points of the first half and made two quick three-pointers to start the second half to lead 41-39.

The Pioneers extended their lead to 49-45 with 15:21 left, but Dodd made back-to-back layups to tie the game. After a Lion three pointer gave them a 55-54 lead with 12:09 left, the Pioneers went on another 9-0 run to lead by eight.

The deficit was not within one possession the rest of the game for the Lions. Denver's biggest lead of the game was 10 points, and it came with 30 seconds left in the game. Denver's Tommy Bruner led all scorers with 20 points and five assists. Luka Kisunas came off the bench and tallied a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

In the first half, the Lions outshot the Pioneers, 55.2 percent to 42.9 percent, while Denver shot 56 percent in the second half, compared to 38.5 percent for A&M-Commerce.

The Lions scored 21 fast break points, Denver had just three, but the Pioneers scored 15 second-chance points on their 15 offensive rebounds, while the Lions scored five points on their 13 offensive rebounds.