Brett Olson scored 19 points and Denver pulled away late to defeat Florida International 77-63 Saturday night after giving up nearly all of a 24-point halftime lead.
The Pioneers (18-8, 8-5 Sun Belt Conference) led 38-14 at halftime, but the Golden Panthers (7-17, 4-8) climbed back into the game behind Jeremy Allen, who scored 27 of his 29 points in the second half.
Using a five-guard lineup, FIU outscored Denver 41-20 over the first 14:34 of the second half. Allen got 12 of those points in a span of 2:11 to cut Denver's lead to 58-55.
The Pioneers, however, responded with a 12-2 surge, ending with Olson's 3-pointer that made it 70-57 with 1:17 left. Denver added seven free throws in the final minute.
Chris Udofia added 17 points and Brian Stafford 13 for Denver, which outshot FIU 51.1 percent (24 of 47) to 41.2 percent (21 of 51).
