ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Concordia-St. Paul scored the final eight points Thursday night to pull away from the Mavericks and post a 62-57 non-conference win. The Mavs fell to 8-7 with the loss, their second in a row, before hosting Doane College at Sapp Fieldhouse Saturday at 1 p.m.
"We had some good looks, but we couldn't knock them down," coach
Derrin Hansen said. "When we had a chance to get a stop, we couldn't get the rebound and they got some key putbacks."
The Mavericks led by as many as 10 points the first half before settling for a 30-29 edge at the break.
Calvin Kapels hit a pair of free shots to break the game's 10th tie and give UNO a 55-54 lead with 2:50 to play.
Quantel Murphy got a steal and a dunk to expand the lead to 57-54 with 2:32 remaining. UNO, however, which shot just 29 percent from the field the second half, missed its final five shots to open the door for the Bears.
Kyle Marxhausen, who led CSP with 23 points and 10 rebounds, hit tow free throws with 2:10 left. After
Michael Jenkins and Murphy each missed three-pointers, The Bears took the lead on a pair of baskets by Marlon Walker. Walker rebounded a teammate's miss to give CSP a 58-57 lead with 45 seconds left.
Kapels was stifled on a layup attempt in traffic with 35 seconds left and Walker converted at the other end for a 60-57 lead and Kenneth Pointer sank a pair of free throws with seven seconds left to seal the win.
Senior forward
Ryan Curtis led UNO with 13 points and
Jamaal Byers added 10. The Mavericks shot 44.4 percent the first half and 36.2 percent for the game.
After Marxhausen, Pointer had 15 points and Ty Thomas 14 for the Bears, who improved to 10-2 with their fifth-straight win. CSP shot 35.1 percent from the field, but hit 22 of 30 free throws to UNO's 13-for-17.
