The final regular season of North Central Conference men's basketball ended with a barnburner, as No. 15 Minnesota State, Mankato rallied in the final two minutes to defeat the University of Nebraska at Omaha, 86-83, Saturday afternoon at Sapp Fieldhouse.
UNO finishes the regular season at 21-6, 7-5 in NCC play. That gives the Mavericks the No. 3 seed in the NCC Tournament, and will host St. Cloud State Wednesday at 7 p.m. MSU finishes the year at 22-5, 11-1. It wins the regular season championship, giving Mankato a first-round bye and will host the semifinals and finals March 8-9.
Nebraska-Omaha started strong, leading the majority of the first half, as it shot 59.4 percent from the field, including 6 of 13 from 3-point range. A three from
Andrew Bridger four minutes in gave UNO an early 15-8 lead. Later, with the home team leading by just two, a triple by
Mitch Albers sparked a 10-2 run that put UNO up by 10, 29-19 with 9:07 left in the half. But Mankato would rally back, led by Mitch Gosson's 12 first-half points. UNO led 47-46 at halftime.
Atila Santos scored eight of Mankato's first 12 points of the second half, allowing his team to take a 58-55 lead with 14:00 left. Consecutive baskets by
Jerry Bennett started a run of 10-straight points for UNO, putting the score back to 65-58 for the hosts. UNO would lead by as many as eight in the second half, 73-65, with 8:19 to play.
But with Bridger and Bennett facing late foul trouble, Santos and Jake Morrow rallied Mankato back. UNO led 79-75 with 3:36 left after a
Denny Johnston layup. A layup by Santos cut the lead to two, and when Bridger drew his fifth foul with 2:09 left, Morrow sank the two free throws to tie it up. Jadee Jones hit a 3-pointer with 1:30 left to give Mankato the final lead.
Mitch Albers was fouled as he hit a jumper in the lane with 24 seconds left, but couldn't convert the free throw.
Jenkins finished with 21 points to lead UNO, with
Mitch Albers scoring 18. Johnston scored 16 with six rebounds, while Bennett finished with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
Santos led all scorers with 23 points, adding eight rebounds. Gosson scored 19 with 10 boards, while Morrow also recorded a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Wednesday's game will be broadcast on KKAR-AM 1290, with Dave Gustafson calling the action.
