The Colorado College men's basketball team took on the University of Denver in an exhibition matchup on Saturday, Dec. 2, ultimately falling to the Pioneers 90-66. 
 
Russell MacFarlane and Edgar Romero led the team with ten points each. MacFarlane shot 50 percent from the floor alongside his two rebounds and two assists. Romero shot 50 percent from three-point range (2-4) and ended the game +11 in only 14 minutes on the floor. 
 
"I thought our kids really fought today," head coach Jeff Conarroe said. "It was good to see us get our turnovers down and great to see us make the run and get it to 10 with 10 to go. I thought we had a tremendous effort on Tommy Bruner; holding him to 4-17 was huge and that's our whole team. Also, they are big and very physical, 16 O rebounds is a tremendous win for us as well. The kids showed a lot of fight and I'm very proud of them."

The Pioneers shot the ball exponentially well in the first half, 46 points and 52 percent from the floor. The Tigers shot 31 percent from the floor but made 12 field goals. 

Six different Tigers scored by the break. Russell Macfarlane led the way with six points. Asher Nofziger had the most effective minutes as he scored four points and swiped five boards in 10 minutes. 
 
The Pioneers were led by as many as 19 with 4:51 left in the first; the Tigers worked it down to a 13-point deficit heading into the second half. 
 
In the second, Dinari Boykin scored his first two points off a fast-break layup to cut the lead down to 10. 
 
Denver would eventually build their lead back out to 21 points, their most prominent of the game. But the Tigers then went on one of their best runs of the day, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers by Romero and Ruegg. It ended up being a 15-5 run over five minutes to cut the lead to 11. 
 
The flurry by the Tigers brought the game close to the midway point of the second half, but the Pioneers eventually pulled away by utilizing the free-throw line.
 
DU finished the game 27-33 at the charity stripe. Touko Tainamo led all scorers with 23 points, while Tommy Bruner, who came into the contest second in the nation in scoring, had 19 points. 
 
Nofziger led the Tigers with seven rebounds alongside his seven points and eight points. He also had a block and a steal. CC had 37 rebounds total to DU's 42. 

"It was also great to see a huge contingent of alumni, our crowd was great," Conarroe said. "I'm thankful to be leading this program, we have a great family"
 
CC will return home to Reid Arena on Saturday, Dec. 9, at 4 p.m. to host Belhaven University in a non-conference matchup. 





 
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