ST. CLOUD, Minn. --
Calvin Kapels scored 29 points and
Zac Robinson tied a school record by pouring in seven three-pointers, but it wasn't enough to stop St. Cloud State in a 96-84 loss to the Huskies in the first round of the Wells Fargo Finals Wednesday night at Halenbeck Hall.
The loss ended the Maverick season and dropped their record to 15-16. St. Cloud State, 19-9, will go on to play South Dakota Saturday afternoon in Mankato, Minn., in a semifinal game.
The Huskies took advantage of a sluggish UNO start and jumped out front 14-2 in the opening four minutes. The Mavericks battled back to within three as Robinson connected on six of eight shots from behind the arc. St. Cloud State took a 45-37 lead at the break on a field goal by Bobby Morrow with six seconds left.
A three by the Huskies' Adam Sullivan for St. Cloud State put the lead in double digits until the final minute. The Huskies didn't hit a field goal the last 6:29, but were able to fight off a late rally by the Mavericks by converting 18 of 22 free throws.
After UNO trailed by 19, 81-62,
Chris DeSpain scored on a dunk, Kapels scored 10 straight UNO points and Robinson capped the run with a three-pointer, drawing within 87-77 with 1:21 left.
Kapels' final career field goal, a three-pointer with 49 seconds left melted the lead down to 91-82, but the Huskies hit five of six from the line to secure their third win of the season over UNO.
"Once you fight back and fight back, it takes so much of your energy that it's tough to get over the hump," UNO coach
Derrin Hansen said.
Kapels ended his UNO career with 1,102 points, which stands 12th on the school career scoring chart. Teammate
Ryan Curtis scored seven to end at 1,051, which is No. 22. Kapels goes out owning the school record for career steals with 191. He also had 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals in 37 minutes.
Matt Siegle led St. Cloud State with 26 points and 12 rebounds and Sullivan contributed 20 points. The Huskies shot 51 percent from the field and hit 32 of 41 foul shots.
Robinson finished with 21 points and
Chris DeSpain, one of four seniors to play his final game, had 10.
Quantel Murphy and Curtis each scored seven. The Mavericks shot 49.2 percent from the field and were 11 for 20 from the stripe.
Robinson finished the season with 79 three-pointers, two short of the school record set by Mike Simons. His seven threes tied the record set first by Mike Conley in 1993-94 and tied twice by Andy Price in 1994-95 and 1995-96.
