QUINCY, Ill. -- A strong defensive effort and
Zac Robinson's three-point shooting help the Mavericks breeze past Central State, 80-54, Saturday afternoon in the Quincy Holiday Tournament. UNO will play Truman State at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Truman State defeated host Quincy 81-77 Saturday in overtime.
Robinson connected on four of six three-point shots to lead four players in double figures with 16 points.
Quantel Murphy added 13 points and five steals,
Michael Jenkins 11 points and
Calvin Kapels 10.
UNO, now 8-5, has won four straight and seven of its last eight. Central State fell to 4-6.
"They're one of the top one or two athletic teams we'll see this year," UNO coach
Derrin Hansen said. "Yet, we did a good job of keeping them off the glass."
Senior forward
Ryan Curtis led UNO with 10 rebounds as the Mavericks held a 44-32 margin on the boards.
The Mavs broke out front with a 13-0 run midway through the first half, and led by as many as 19 before holding a 35-24 lead at halftime.
UNO scored the first seven points of the second half, but a nine-point run by Central State sliced the lead to 12 with 13:32 left when
Jamaal Byers started a 9-2 run with a three-pointer.
Keith Price added a layup, two free throws and a dunk to pad the lead to 55-36 with 11:13 to play.
"I thought that one of the keys was that we controlled their penetration and kept them from getting any good transition," Hansen said. "Zac shot the ball well and Quantel and Calvin combined for several steals."
UNO finished the game with a 15-2 run and held Central State to just one field goal over the final 4:44.
The Mavericks held Central State to just 5-for-26 from beind the arc and to 31.7 percent for the game from the field.
