Morgan State was losing to Denver by as much as 13 points before launching a furious comeback in the 2nd half only to fall short as the Pioneers held on to win 54-44 at the Leavey Center before a crowd of 1,782 fans.

Morgan State dropped to 6-6 on the season, while Denver won the consolation round of the 41st Annual Cable Car Classic and improved to 5-7.

The Bears had only two players’ score in double-figures. Senior guard Jamar Smith scored a game-high 18 points on 8-for-17 shooting from the field, while junior Marquise Kately added 13 points.

Senior Boubacar Coly put together a solid performance for the Bears in the paint. Coly finished with a game-high 14 rebounds and scored nine points with four blocked shots.

Morgan State trailed 17-16 following a dunk by Smith with 6:28 remaining in the first half, but from that point forward the Bears had difficulty putting the ball in the basket. Meanwhile, the Pioneers ended up using a 17-6 run to go into the intermission with a commanding 34-22 lead.

Denver torched the nets in the first half (52.4%) behind a rhythmic and fluid Princeton-style offense, and shot 10-for-12 from the free throw line.

Morgan State opened up the second half with improved effort and turned up the defensive pressure by switching to full court pressure to help them outscore the Pioneer 12-0 in the opening 6 minutes. Jamar Smith’s coast-to-coast layup, followed by a floater knotted the ballgame at 34 with 13:12 remaining.

The Bears would take its first lead of the half when Rogers Barnes fed Marquise Kately for a dunk to go up 38-36 (11:20) and extended the lead to 41-37 after Coly converted a three-point play with 10:42 left.

Denver fired back by blowing the game open by outscoring the Bears 17-3 in the final 10 minutes.

Nate Rhonert led the charge and paced the Pioneers with 11 of his team-high 16 points in the second half. Adam Tanner and David Kummer added 10 points apiece.

Morgan State was outrebounded for the second game in a row as the Pioneers held a 29-21 advantage on the boards.

The Bears will attempt to bounce back when they take on BIG EAST opponent Seton Hall at the Prudential Center on Saturday (Jan. 5) at 1 p.m.