Denver sends Jacks to third straight loss

Saturday, December 13

Denver, Colo.

4 p.m. MT

South Dakota State University

Denver

12/13/2008 1:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

By: SDSU Sports Info

DENVER ? Anthony Cordova scored a career-high 17 points and added ten rebounds for his third career double-double, but Denver scored first and never trailed again on Saturday in the mile high city, as the Pioneers sent the Jackrabbits to their third straight loss, 62-58 in front of 2,021 fans at Magness Arena.

Denver improves to 2-6 with the win, while the Jacks fall to 4-7 heading into Tuesday's game against Cal State-Bakersfield in Brookings.

Clint Sargent led the Jacks in scoring for the second consecutive game, he finished with 19 points as the only other Jackrabbit to score in double figures.

Nate Rohner led three Pioneers in double figures with 17 points; Rob Lewis added 15 and Brian Stafford 14 in the win.

Denver opened on a 9-3 run, and led by as many as nine points in the first half, only to see the Jackrabbits work their way back, eventually cutting the lead to two points, at 28-26 at halftime.

The Pioneers never led by more than nine points at any time during the game, and they led by nine with 2:58 left in the game, when Garrett Callahan scored to cut the deficit to seven and then six on a free throw.

Sargent cut the lead to three at 58-55 the next time down the floor with a minute and a half, but the Jackrabbits ran out of time, as Denver went a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line in the second half to secure the win.

SDSU struggled from the charity stripe, going 13-for-24 (54 percent) as a team from the line. The Jacks did not fair much better from beyond the arc either, going 3-for-10 from long distance.

The Jacks did shoot an even 50 percent from the floor overall (21-of-42) and they dominated the boards 29-18, but Denver shot 56 percent (23-of-41) from the floor, won the turnover battle and, perhaps most importantly, won shot better from the free throw line.

The Jackrabbits look to snap their three-game skid on Tuesday, when the host the Roadrunners of Cal State-Bakersfield in Frost Arena. Tip-off in the final home game of the calendar year is slated for 7 p.m.