Box Score OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha men's basketball team swept its non-conference series with Cal State Fullerton Sunday afternoon, outlasting the Titans 102-96 in overtime at Baxter Arena. With the win, the Mavericks improve to 7-5 (0-0 Summit League) on the season, while CSUF drops to 4-7 (0-0 Big West).
Two Mavericks had double-double performances -- senior guard
Tra-Deon Hollins with team highs of 20 points and 10 assists along with eight rebounds, three steals and a block, as well as junior forward
Tre'Shawn Thurman with 15 points, a game-high 12 rebounds, an assist and a block.
Three other Mavericks scored in double figures: sophomore guard
Zach Jackson (19), sophomore forward
Mitch Hahn (18) and senior guard
Marcus Tyus (16). Jackson had a trio of 3-pointers and added five rebounds, while Hahn's scoring total was a season high, helped by a perfect 10-of-10 showing at the free throw line.
Cal State Fullerton got a double-double from Davon Clare on 11 points and 12 rebounds. Lionheart Leslie scored a game-high 23 points on 10-of-19 shooting, while Austen Awosika added 15 points and Dwight Ramos had another 13.
CSUF shot .480 (36-of-75) from the field, .444 (8-of-18) from long range and .667 (16-of-24) at the free throw line. Omaha finished at a .433 (29-of-67) clip from the floor, .417 (10-of-24) from distance and .791 (34-of-43) at the stripe. The Titans had the edge in rebounding, 48-36.
Cal State Fullerton was lights-out in the first 20 minutes, shooting .667 (20-of-30) behind 13 points from Ramos, who was 3-of-3 behind the arc. The Mavericks trailed by as many as nine in the half, when a pair of Jackson Rowe foul shots gave CSUF a 46-37 lead with 3:52 to go. Omaha was held scoreless from the field over the final 3:38 as the Titans took a 54-45 lead at the break.
Fullerton's shooting cooled to .324 (11-of-34) in the second stanza, but they never trailed in the half. Omaha slowly chipped away at the deficit, however, with a Tyus 3-pointer stalling the game at 67-all with 12:02 to go. CSUF then worked back to a 77-69 edge on a Leslie triple with 6:33 left, and again built an eight-point advantage at 81-73 with 4:30 remaining. But Omaha went on a 10-2 tear from there and held the Titans to no field goals over the final 2:10. With 15.1 seconds to go, Hollins hit a pair of free throws to knot the game at 83-83, which sent the Mavericks to overtime for the first time this season.
In the extra period, Jackson opened with a 3-pointer that spotted the Mavericks their first lead since 8:19 in the first half. They then outscored CSUF 17-6 to build a 12-point lead at 101-89 in the closing minute and capped the game with a final score of 102-96.
Omaha returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 21, visiting Pitt. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT in Pittsburgh, Pa., and the game will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra. Gary Sharp will also have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2, and links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.