VERMILLION, S.D.—Marcus Byrd scored a game-high 22 points and Joe Rosga added 16 more to lead Denver to a 76-71 win against South Dakota Sunday in the final USD men's basketball game to be played inside the DakotaDome.
Denver (14-14, 6-9 Summit) ended a three-game skid and swept the regular season series with South Dakota (13-16, 4-10) for the first time. The Coyotes can clinch the final Summit League Tournament spot with a win in one of their final two games or a Western Illinois loss.
South Dakota turned in one its top shooting performances of the season at 56 percent (31-55), but committed 16 turnovers and was outscored at the free-throw line 15-1.
Tre Burnette and
D.J. Davis led the Coyotes with 14 points each.
Tyler Flack,
Eric Robertson and
Trey Norris had 10 each.
Denver used runs of 9-0 and 8-0 in the first half and 11-0 in the second half to take control. Rosga hit a 3-pointer at the first-half horn to give the Pioneers a 31-24 lead at the break. He led all scorers with nine points at the half. The Pioneers hit 4 of 5 triples in the first half while USD was 0 of 3.
The Coyotes used a jumper by Robertson and back-to-back 3's by Davis and
Casey Kasperbauer to quickly trim Denver's lead to 34-32. But Pioneer forward C.J. Bobbitt scored seven of his nine points during the 11-0 spurt that pushed the lead back to 13 with 13 minutes to go.
Denver's lead was 68-54 with three minutes left. Burnette hit a triple and added a putback during a 10-0 run that got the 'Yotes within four at 68-64 with 90 seconds left. South Dakota had two possessions to further cut into the lead, but Norris had a runner in the lane rim out and Burnette had a 3 rattle in and out. Denver made 6 of 6 from the line to seal the win.
South Dakota is the Summit League leader in assist-to-turnover ratio, but had 15 assists against 16 turnovers against Denver's zone defense. The Pioneers scored 30 points off those turnovers – 15 in each half.
Final Dome RecordSouth Dakota compiled a 396-131 home record (.751) in 37 seasons in the DakotaDome. USD posted a winning record at home in 31 of those 37 seasons. The team finished 6-6 at home this season.
Mount Rushmore Winners AnnouncedCoyote alumni Randy Rosenquist (pictured below), Josh Mueller, Tim Hatchett and Nate Tibbetts were announced the winners of South Dakota's Mount Rushmore contest as selected by fans in an online vote. The announcement came during a halftime ceremony that also recognized all Coyote men's basketball alumni in attendance.
