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OMAHA, Neb. – Behind a heroic game-winning shot from sophomore guard Caleb Steffensmeier, the UNO men's basketball team picked up its second win of the year on Saturday afternoon, defeating Chadron State 81-78 at Sapp Fieldhouse. With the victory, the Mavericks are 2-4 on the year, while the Eagles drop to 0-4.

With the score tied 78-78 with 5.8 seconds to go, the ball was inbounded to Steffensmeier, who made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from approximately 28 feet out to win the game. The Creighton Prep product finished with a career-high-tying 12 points, as well as a career-best seven assists, two rebounds and a steal.

Senior guard Mitch Albers led the scoring with 20 points and tacked on four rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals. Sophomore center John Karhoff added a career-high 19 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the field, as well as six rebounds and a career-best-matching two blocks. Freshman guard CJ Carter also finished in double figures with 12 points, along with five boards, five assists, two blocks and two steals.

Junior Bill Freeman pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds and added six points, three assists and a steal off the bench, while junior forward Alex Welhouse had six boards, four points and two helpers.

As a team, Nebraska Omaha shot 54.7 percent (35-for-64) from the floor to Chadron State's 37.5 percent (21-for-56). The Eagles had a strong effort from both behind the arc -- 11-for-24 for 45.8 percent – and at the free throw line – 25-for-30 for 83.3 percent.

CSC was topped by Kevin McClelland's 21 points and a game-leading trio of 3-pointers, as well as an 8-for-8 performance from the charity stripe. McClellland added five rebounds, four assists, three steals and a block, all of which led his squad. Two other Eagles – Moala Tautuaa (14) and Chris Curtis (11) – finished with double-figure scoring efforts.

Tim McDavid got Chadron State on the board first with a 3-pointer, but back-to-back layups by Steffensmeier and Albers put UNO up 4-3. A trey by McClelland then put CSC ahead 6-4, and the Eagles never relinquished the lead for the remainder of the first half. Though the Mavericks brought it within one on three occasions, Chadron State went up by as much as 12 at 5:36 on a pair of free throws from Kyle Vinich. Nebraska Omaha then cut it to 36-30 with a layup from Freeman, but a 3-pointer by Sammy Hines in the final minute put CSC back up by 10. Albers managed one more score for UNO, a layup with one second left, making it 46-38 by halftime.

Karhoff turned it up in the second half, accounting for five rebounds and 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting from the field. After Chadron State took its largest lead of the game at 53-40, the Mavericks chipped away to regain control. A 12-0 UNO run was capped by back-to-back Karhoff baskets and a layup from Steffensmeier to make it 60-57 before CSC tied it at 60-all on a 3-pointer by McClelland.

Freeman then dropped in back-to-back shots, putting the Mavs ahead 64-62, but a free throw by Christian McGhee and Aldor Kola's trey pushed it to 66-64 for Chadron State. Carter kept UNO within two on a tip-in, and Karhoff then went to work, putting up seven straight points on his own by 73-71.

In the final seven minutes, the two teams tied the game five times to bring it to the 78-78 point. With 16 seconds left, Carter blocked an attempted shot by Hines, giving UNO the ball. With 5.8 seconds left on the clock, it went to Steffensmeier, who tossed up the 28-footer to win the game.

UNO returns to action on Tuesday, Nov. 29, hosting Washburn. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Sapp Fieldhouse.