Denver Outlasts Florida Atlantic, 66-55

Tuesday, December 16

Denver, Colo.

9:00 PM

Florida Atlantic

Denver

12/16/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Dec. 16, 2008

Final Stats

DENVER, CO - Denver overcame a seven-point second-half deficit to beat Florida Atlantic 66-55 at DU's Magness Arena Tuesday. It was the Sun Belt Conference opener for both schools.

Playing the second game of a five-game homestand, Denver (3-6; 1-0 Sun Belt) methodically turned around a game it trailed 37-30 with 14:09 remaining. DU improves to 10-3 at home under second-year head coach Joe Scott.

Paul Graham III scored a game-high 21 for Florida Atlantic (4-6; 0-1 Sun Belt). FAU is beginning the season playing 10 of its first 13 on the road.

Nate Rohnert's give-and-go lay-up with 1:40 left made it 57-51. Rohnert finished with 17 and freshman forward Andrew Hooper scored 19, which included three of the game's five 3-pointers. The pair accounted for 27 of Denver's 44 second-half points.

Carlos Monroe scored 10 points and had six rebounds in his return to the FAU lineup. Monroe - FAU's all-time leading rebounder - started and played 26 minutes.

Combined the two teams began the game shooting 1-13 from the field. It took Denver over six minutes to make its first field goal.

A pair of extended scoring draughts plagued the FAU offense. The first was a four-minute FAU scoreless stretch late in the first half, contributing to FAU's lowest halftime scoring output of the season (25 points). FAU had scored just 15 points with 1:50 left before intermission, but rallied to take a 25-22 lead on Alex Tucker's 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer.

FAU came out with a full-court press in the second half. Speeding up the game's tempo, FAU built a 31-24 lead at the 16:18 mark on an inside bucket by Monroe.

The FAU advantage remained seven, with 14:09 on the clock, when a near six-minute scoring draught allowed Denver to seize control. On the night FAU made just 38% (18-of-47) of their shots including making just 1-of-8 from 3-point range.

Shavar Richardson ended the second-half scoreless spell by rattling-in a baseline jumper to make it a one-point game with 8 minutes left. But the combination of Rohnert and Hooper would not allow FAU to lead again. DU made 16 of 20 free throws in the second half, including the necessary ones down the stretch to hold on for the win.