Abdul Mills scored 23 points and Ryan Curtis recorded his second double-double of the season as the Mavericks fought off a second-half rally by Missouri Western State College to win their sixth straight game, 81-73, Saturday afternoon.

Curtis scored 14 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and had three blocked shots as No. 21 UNO improved to 9-1 on the season. Calvin Kapels added 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The Griffons fell to 5-2.

Mills lit up the scoreboard at Lee & Helene Sapp Fieldhouse with 17 first-half points while hitting four of seven three-point shots to help the Mavs to a 48-35 lead at halftime.

Curtis' stuff shot four minutes into the second half gave UNO its biggest lead, 62-42, but the Griffons at that point began to climb back into the game. Fred Battles and Jason Warren each nailed three-pointers to spark an 11-1 run that whittled the lead in half.

UNO countered by scoring five straight points, but Missouri Western rattled off nine straight, climaxed by a three-point play by T.J. Bishop to trim the lead to 68-62 with 6:21 to play.

Baskets by Andre Tarpley, Curtis and Randy Bland in the paint kept the Mavericks out front down the stretch. Missouri Western managed to pull within five, 76-71, with 2:52 left on two free shots by Fred Battles and two more by DeVonte King after Bland was whistled for a foul and a technical. But Mills stepped up to knock down a three with 1:56 left to relieve the pressure.

Mills nearly matched his season-best of 25 which he scored Tuesday night in UNO's win over Wayne State. He was 7-for-12 for the game with five three-pointers and also had three assists.

Demarius Bolds and King each scored 15 points and Battles added 14 to lead the Griffons.

UNO is next in action against Tarleton State and No. 2 ranked Rollins in the High Desert Classic Dec. 18-19 in Las Vegas, Nev.