FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- The Omaha men's basketball team fell short at Fort Wayne Saturday night, as the Mastodons edged the Mavericks 82-78 at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.
 
Leaders for Omaha
Five Mavericks scored in double figures, led by Zach Jackson's 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting with two 3-pointers and a 5-of-6 showing at the line. The junior added nine rebounds, and the effort marked his seventh 20-point scoring performance of the season.
 
Daniel Norl followed with 14 points, two rebounds and a team-high six assists. JT Gibson, Lamar Wofford-Humphrey and KJ Robinson each added 10 more points, with Gibson and Wofford-Humphrey also accounting for five boards apiece.
 
Leaders for Fort Wayne
The Mastodons were led by Bryson Scott's game-high 26 points alongside five rebounds, three assists and a steal. Kason Harrell pitched in 13 points with four-3 pointers, and Jax Levitch and Matt Weir had 10 points each. Levitch also pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds, and John Konchar grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds with six points, a game-best nine assists and a block.
 
Team Stats
Omaha shot .462 (30-of-65) to Fort Wayne's .400 (26-of-65), but the Mastodons had the edge behind the arc, .406 (13-of-32) to .217 (5-of-23), and the advantage on the glass, 40-35.
 
Inside the First Half
Down 10 with 10:22 to the break, a 7-0 Omaha run from 9:40 to 8:46 cut the Mastodon lead to three. The Mavericks outscored Fort Wayne 11-3 over the final 4:28 and went up by as many as seven, holding a 41-37 advantage by halftime. Omaha shot .500 (16-of-32) in the opening 20 minutes and held the Mastodons to just .378 (14-of-37). 
 
Inside the Second Half
Jackson came out firing in the second half, scoring 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting. Scott countered with 16 points for Fort Wayne, which whittled the Omaha lead and tied it at 51-all by 15:31. After the game knotted again at 56-56 on a Weir three, the Mastodons took the lead on a Konchar free throw with 13:16 to go.
 
Fort Wayne later went on a nearly four-minute scoring drought, and Omaha pulled within two at 74-72 after a Pile free throw, a Norl layup and a Jackson jumper with 3:09 to go. Levitch then hit a triple to put the Mastodons up five, and Fort Wayne held off Omaha for the remainder of the game.
 
Omaha is now 6-14 (1-3 Summit League) on the year, while Fort Wayne improves to 13-8 (2-2).
 
Noting Tonight's Game
-Gibson has now made at least one 3-pointer in 16 straight games since Nov. 12.
-Gibson is also a perfect 19-of-19 at the stripe since Nov. 14.
-Tonight's scoring effort marked Norl's 15th double-figure scoring game of the season.
-Jackson has now been the Mavericks' leading scorer in 13 games this season.
 
Up Next
Omaha returns to Baxter Arena, welcoming Denver on Thursday, Jan. 13. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m., and Gary Sharp and John Karhoff will have the radio call on 1180 Zone 2. Links to live stats, audio and video will be available on OMavs.com.