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 Record
South 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.
