Box Score Box Score (PDF/HTML)

OMAHA, Neb. – The UNO men's basketball team returned home for the first time in over a month and faced another future Summit League opponent on Tuesday night, falling 81-70 to Western Illinois at Sapp Fieldhouse. With the loss, the Mavericks are now 7-15 on the year, while the Leathernecks improve to 11-8 (5-5 Summit League).

Junior forward Alex Welhouse finished with a team-leading 17 points and five rebounds, shooting 7-for-11 from the field with three 3-pointers. Senior guard Mitch Albers and freshman guard CJ Carter also scored in double figures, accounting for 14 points apiece. Carter added four rebounds and three assists, and Albers dished out four helpers of his own with a pair of steals.

In addition, sophomore center John Karhoff chipped in eight points, five boards and a career-high six assists.

WIU was led by Obi Emegano's 24 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the floor and a 9-of-10 effort at the free throw line. He also had seven rebounds and three assists for the night.

Ceola Clark joined Emegano with a 20-point game on identical 7-for-12 shooting and four treys, as well as three boards, five assists and a steal. Jack Houpt totaled 15 points with four 3-pointers, and Terell Parks added 12 points and a game-best nine rebounds.

As a team, Western Illinois finished at 59 percent both from the floor (27-of-46) and behind the arc (10-for-17). Nebraska Omaha shot 52 percent (28-of-54) from the field and 33 percent from 3-point range (6-of-18), and 34 of the Mavericks' 70 points came in the paint. Additionally, the Mavericks forced 15 Leatherneck turnovers for the night that resulted in 13 points.

The future conference peers traded leads early in the game, with UNO opening the contest to a 4-0 advantage. After Houpt's first three put WIU ahead, Welhouse responded immediately with a 3-pointer of his own to make it 7-5. Back-to-back jumpers by Carter and another from Karhoff spotted UNO a 13-7 advantage, but three consecutive treys from Clark and Houpt gave WIU the lead again. Sophomore guard Isiah Gandy then dropped in another basket from behind the arc, and a layup from senior center John Ring put Nebraska Omaha up again by four.

After the score tied twice more, seven straight points – four from Emegano – pushed the Western Illinois lead out to 31-24. Carter broke up the scoring run with shot, and Albers and Welhouse kept it within a four-point margin. A final 3-pointer from Steffensmeier brought the Mavs within three, leaving the tally at 35-32 by halftime.

In the second half, Emegano contributed 16 points, and Western Illinois totaled six 3-pointers, with two apiece from Houpt and Clark. UNO sliced the score to 44-42 with a Karhoff layup, then 49-47 on a Welhouse triple, but a pair of threes from Clark and Tyler, along with a tip-in by Parks, gave WIU their first 10-point lead at 57-47.

The Mavs again narrowed it to a manageable 57-52 with 8:47 to go, before two Emegano free throws and back-to-back threes stretched the Western Illinois advantage to 67-54. The Leathernecks held a double-digit lead until the final minute, when a Karhoff basket made it 79-70, but Remy Roberts-Burnett's last two foul shots gave Western Illinois the 81-70 win.

Albers, who has 1,656 points in his four-year career, is now just four points away from tying Dennis Forrest for No. 2 in school history for career scoring. The Papillion, Neb., native is 160 away from matching Maverick all-time leading scorer Dean Thompson's mark of 1,816 points.

UNO returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 1, hosting in-state opponent Peru State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Sapp Fieldhouse.