ORLANDO, Fla. -- No. 9 pre-season Southern Indiana took advantage of UNO turnovers and pulled away in the closing minutes to grab a 76-71 win over the Mavericks in a semifinal game of the Disney Tip-Off Classic Saturday night. UNO will meet Alaska-Anchorage at 3 p.m. CST Sunday in the third-place game.
Senior forward
Ryan Curtis' 15 points led UNO, which is ranked No. 13 in the pre-season poll, and senior guard
Calvin Kapels added 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Junior guards
Zac Robinson and
Jamaal Byers each scored 11 points.
"We just committed too many turnovers," UNO coach
Derrin Hansen said. The Mavericks, 1-1, committed 23 turnovers to Southern Indiana's 16.
UNO held a 29-22 lead late in the first half before Southern Indiana rallied to take a 39-38 lead into the break.
"We didn't get back on defense quickly enough a couple of times and they took advantage of it to get some easy baskets," Hansen said.
The Mavericks recovered and claimed a 56-55 lead with 8:16 to play as Byers hit a three-pointer, but the Screaming Eagles eventually pulled away to a 73-68 lead in the closing minute. Robinson brought UNO within 73-71 with a three-pointer, but Southern Indiana answered with a pair of free shots to secure the win.
