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FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Omaha men's basketball team finished its weekend road swing on Saturday afternoon, falling 96-78 to Fort Wayne at Memorial Coliseum. The Mavericks are now 4-14 (1-5 Summit League), while the Mastodons improve to 8-9 (1-2 Summit League).
Junior guard
Justin Simmons paced Omaha with 24 points, shooting 11-of-18 from the field, while adding a team-leading six rebounds. The performance was his fourth 20-plus point effort this season and his third straight.
Freshman guard
Marcus Tyus poured in a season-high 20 points with 7-of-12 shooting and a pair of 3-pointers. The effort bested his previous mark of 17 points against Bethune Cookman on Nov. 23. Tyus added a pair of rebounds and two steals for the afternoon.
Sophomore guard
CJ Carter also had a double-figure day, totaling 12 points with three rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal. Junior center
John Karhoff had eight points and four boards, and senior forward
Alex Welhouse notched four points and a team-best six rebounds with three helpers, two blocks and a steal of his own.
Fort Wayne was led by four players in double figures, two of whom had double-doubles. Michael Kibiloski had a career-high 26 points with five 3-pointers and 10 rebounds. Mario Hines also had a double-double with 12 points and 12 boards, while Frank Gaines added 26 points and Luis Jacobo finished with 16. Both Gaines and Jacobo hit four treys on the day.
As a team, Omaha shot 51 percent (31-of-61) from the floor to Fort Wayne's 50 percent (28-of-56) effort. The Mastodons made a season-high 14-of-24 (58 percent) shots from 3-point range, while UNO finished at 4-of-15 (27 percent). IPFW was also 26-of-31 (84 percent) at the free throw line. As a squad, the Mavericks outblocked IPFW 6-2.
Fort Wayne hit seven of its first eight 3-point attempts to open the game, leading 29-14 midway through the first half. A 7-0 Mastodon run was broken up by a bucket from Karhoff, but IPFW still led 43-24. The Mavericks blasted back with 10 unanswered points, including six from Tyus, cutting it to 45-36 with under a minute to go. IPFW, which shot 55 percent and made nine treys in the first 20 minutes, managed one more basket before the buzzer, leading 47-36 at halftime.
The two squads traded buckets to start the second stanza, but Kibiloski knocked down his fourth 3-pointer to extend the Mastodons' advantage to 56-40. With 7:36 left, a dunk from Hagerbaumer cut it to a 10-point margin, and a Carter layup made it a 10-point game again two minutes later, but Kibiloski's fifth and final trey pushed it out to 82-68 with four minutes to go. A three on the Mastodons' last possession gave IPFW the win at 96-78.
Omaha returns to action on Thursday, Jan. 10, hosting IUPUI. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Ralston Arena, and links to live video and live stats will be available on OMavs.com.