GOLDEN, Colo. -- The Mavericks' late rally stalled at the free throw line Friday night as Colorado School of Mines held on for a 55-52 win in the Orediggers' tournament. UNO, now 1-3, will play Mesa State at 7 CST Saturday night.
UNO, down 29-27 at halftime, slipped to as many as 11 points off the pace the second half before using a full court trapping press to force some turnovers and opportunities. The Mavs pulled within 52-48 with just under five minutes left on a
Denny Johnston field goal.
Despite hitting just two of six from the foul line down the stretch, UNO still had a chance to tie or take the lead in the closing minute.
Michael Jenkins, who led UNO with 14 points, hit one of two free throws with 28 seconds left to pull the Mavs to within 54-52.
The Orediggers' Franklin Wright hit one of two free shots with 12.2 seconds remaining, but Jenkins missed a tightly-contested three-point attempt at the buzzer.
"When push came to shove, we got pushed," head coach
Derrin Hansen said. "Our full court press the second half got us some steals and helped us get back in the game."
UNO hit on just 14 of 24 foul shots (58.3 percent) while the Orediggers were 13 for 17 for 76.5 percent.
After Jenkins,
Zac Robinson scored 11 points,
Ryan Curtis seven, Johnston six and
Calvin Kapels 5.
"As poorly as we played at times," Hansen said, "if we would have shot our free throws better, we would have won the basketball game."
