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SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The UNO men's basketball team took a loss at Briar Cliff on Saturday evening, falling 71-69 to the Chargers at the Newman Flanagan Center. With the defeat, the Mavericks are now 7-12 on the year, while BCU improves to 12-6.

Sophomore center John Karhoff led the way with 20 points, while senior guard Mitch Albers added 18, and freshman guard CJ Carter had 13 with a pair of threes. Junior forward Alex Welhouse and junior guard Jacques Coleman pulled down a game-leading seven rebounds apiece, with Coleman's effort marking a career high.

Briar Cliff was topped by Jake Shipley's 25 points on 4-for-5 shooting from 3-point range and seven rebounds. Zach Otting and Eric Rohe added nine points each.

As a team, UNO shot 35.7 percent to BCU's performance of 42.6 percent, but Briar Cliff was aided by nine 3-pointers to the Mavs' three shots from behind the arc. Nebraska Omaha outrebounded the Chargers, 44-43.

Down 6-2 to open the game, UNO came back to tie it at 8-8. A layup by Carter gave the Mavericks their first lead of the day at 10-8, but Briar Cliff regained the advantage and later used a 12-0 run to work out to a 32-19 margin. A shot from Albers and a free throw from Welhouse broke UNO's scoring drought, but BCU kept it at 34-25 by halftime.

In the second half, a pair of jumpers from Karhoff and two 3-pointers from Carter brought UNO within two at 39-37. Shipley responded immediately with two quick treys of his own to make it 45-37 in favor of Briar Cliff, which relied heavily on his 20 second-half points. UNO tied it at 59-59 with a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Caleb Steffensmeier and again at 61-61 with a layup from senior center John Ring. Though the Mavs got within one twice more – the final time on an Albers layup with 19 seconds to go – one last free throw from Shipley sealed the win for BCU at 71-69.

UNO returns to action on Tuesday, Jan. 17, traveling to Nevada. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. (CT) in Reno, Nev.