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OMAHA, Neb. – The Omaha men's basketball team made a comeback late in the second half to challenge Western Illinois on Saturday, but ultimately fell 89-74 to the co-league leader at Ralston Arena. The Mavericks are now 5-15 (2-6 Summit League), while the Leathernecks improve to 14-3 (6-0 Summit League).

Junior guard Justin Simmons led the way with 18 points on 8-of-16 shooting, while junior guard Alex Phillips added 13 points and six rebounds. Sophomore guard CJ Carter chipped in 12 points, four assists and two steals, and junior center John Karhoff rounded out UNO's double-figure scorers with 10 points, seven rebounds and a pair of helpers.

Senior forward Alex Welhouse added seven points and four rebounds, and his lone 3-pointer of the day moved him up to ninth on UNO's career threes chart in a tie with Troy Kloewer (131).

Western Illinois was paced by a double-double from Terell Parks, who connected on 9-of-15 shots to finish with 19 points and 11 boards. Don McAvoy (15 points), Adam Link (12) and Remy Roberts-Burnett (11) also ended the day in double figures.

As a team, Omaha shot 44 percent (28-of-63) to Western's 57 percent (31-of-54). The Mavericks shot 23 (3-of-13) from long range, while the Leathernecks came in at a 56 percent (5-of-9) clip. WIU finished at 85 percent (22-of-26) from the line to UNO's 63 percent (15-of-24). The Mavericks also committed a season-low seven turnovers.

Omaha opened the game to a quick score of 11-2, highlighted by five points from Welhouse. Western came back to tie it at 11-11 and again at 13-13, but the Mavericks used five free throws and a putback from Hagerbaumer to go up 20-16. The Leathernecks took their first lead of the game at 25-22 with a 3-pointer from McAvoy, then extended it to 29-24. Phillips kept UNO in the hunt with a jumper, then later knocked in a three of his own to cut it to 29-27. WIU hit one more trey in the half, but Carter came back with a shot in the closing seconds to pull the Mavs within three, 32-29, by halftime.

In the second half, Western stormed out to a 22-point margin, but the Mavericks slowly chipped away at the lead with buckets from Simmons and Phillips and a three from senior guard Jacques Coleman. With four minutes to go, UNO started a 12-0 run spurred by three Simmons dunks that shaved the score to 70-77 by 1:46. A dunk by Parks, however, halted the Mavericks' rally, and the Leathernecks took their sixth conference win, 89-74.

Omaha returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 19, traveling to CSU Bakersfield. Tipoff is set for 9 p.m. (CT) at the Icardo Center in Bakersfield, Calif.