DULUTH, Minn. -- Shorthanded UNO, down to just seven healthy players, suffered its sixth straight North Central Conference loss Saturday, 69-51, to Minnesota Duluth.
The loss dropped the Mavericks to 13-15 overall and 2-8 in the league and assured them of playing a first-round post-season tournament game on the road March 1. UMD improved to 14-11 and 5-5. The Bulldogs and UNO will meet again Thursday night at 8 at Sapp Fieldhouse.
"I really appreciate the effort we had from these guys," UNO coach
Derrin Hansen said. "We kept fighting, but it was just too big of a hill to climb. I don't like the outcome, but I liked our effort."
The Mavericks opened the game strong and trailed just 16-13 after a steal by
Denny Johnston and a layup by
Chris DeSpain with 10:58 left, but the Bulldogs scored the next seven points and went on to claim a 34-23 halftime lead.
The Bulldogs then scored the first 10 points of the second half and held UNO went scoreless for the opening four minutes.
The Mavericks, down by as many as 22 points with 11:21 left, turned the tables and scored the next 10 points, starting with a jumper by
Zac Robinson.
Grant Nieland and
Quantel Murphy each had three points in the run, cutting the deficit down to 12 at 52-40 with 7:48 to play before running out of steam.
The Mavs fell behind by 18, then crept to within 62-49 with 2:53 left on a free throw by Curtis, but the Bulldogs salted the game away, hitting seven straight free throws the final 1:22.
UNO traveled with eight players, but redshirt freshman forward
Ryan Pace left the game in the first half with the flu. Senior guard
Calvin Kapels was sidelined with an ankle injury and junior back-up point guard
Jamaal Byers didn't make the trip because of an illness in the family. In addition, freshman guard
Michael Jenkins has only played three games the past month because of an ankle injury.
Ryan Curtis led the Mavericks with 11 points and nine rebounds and
Chris DeSpain added 10 points. UNO also hurt its chances by connecting on just one of 19 shots from behind the arc. The Mavs shot 25.9 percent the second half and 31.5 percent for the game to UMD's 45.6 percent.
Bryan Foss led the Bulldogs with 24 points and John Emerson added 17.
After hosting the Bulldogs Thursday, the Mavericks will close the regular season Saturday night at Sapp Fieldouse against Minnesota State, Mankato.
