OMAHA, Neb. – Hot first half shooting helped the St. Thomas Tommies to a league opening win over the Omaha Mavericks Monday night. Despite being down 29 points in the first, the Mavericks chipped away at the lead to get within five of the Tommies on a three-pointer from Felix Lemetti with under a minute to play. It wasn't enough, and Omaha dropped another game, 80-73.
 
The Mavericks fall to 1-11 overall and 0-1 in league play.
 
Leaders for Omaha
Marco Smith led the Mavericks with a career-high 19 points. He was 8-of-14 from the field with two three-pointers. He also posted a game-high six assists and tallied five boards. Frankie Fidler also notched a personal best with 18 points. He shot 50 percent from the field and connected on four from long range. Fidler tallied four rebounds and two assists.
 
Lemetti reached double-figures for the fourth straight game with 16 points. HE was 4-of-7 from the field and tallied three assists. Akol Arop led the game with career-highs in rebounds (10) and blocks (3).
 
Leaders for St. Thomas
Riley Miller and Anders Nelson scored game-highs with 22 points each. Both hit four three-pointers. Miller added five boards and four assists. Nelson tallied two rebounds and three assists.
 
Ryan Lindberg was the third Tommie to notch double-figures. He scored 11 with four rebounds and two assists. Brooks Allen was just short of a double-double with nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Team Stats
The Mavericks shot over 48 percent from the field and finished with 11 made three-pointers. They nearly shot 63 percent in the second half as they're comeback fell short. St. Thomas shot 46.7 percent from the field. They finished with 14 made three, nine of which were scored in the first half.
 
Inside the First Half
The Tommies opened the game hitting their first straight shots with five from long range to build a 17-6 lead over the Mavericks. Lemetti helped cut the lead to 10 points with a three-pointer at the 14:44 mark, while Darrius Hughes scored on back-to-back possessions two minutes later. St. Thomas then held Omaha scoreless for nearly ten minutes and used a 17-0 run to take their largest lead of the game at 29 points.
 
A free throw from Hughes broke the scoreless streak followed by a three from Kyle Luedtke. Lemetti hit another buzzer beater three-pointer to close the half. Omaha trailed, 46-23.
 
Inside the Second Half
The Mavericks flipped a switch in the second half scoring 50 points to attempt the comeback. Fidler and Smith picked up the offensive efforts out of the gate. Fidler connected from the arc at the 17:49 mark followed by a jumper from Smith on the next possession. Fidler scored nine straight Omaha points helping cut the lead to 20 with just over 10 left to play. Smith then stepped up with a jumper to complete an 11-0 run.
 
Smith cut the St. Thomas lead to 15 with a layup at the 8:44 mark. He came back down the next two Omaha possessions and knocked down threes each time cutting the lead to 11. Fidler connected on another from long range with 4:07 left to play followed by a jumper from Arop at 3:14 narrowing the lead to single-digits for the first time of the half. Fidler and Lemetti then traded three-pointers with under a minute to play bringing Omaha within six. The Mavericks got within five with four seconds left on Lemetti's hot hand, but the Tommies went on to win 80-73 with help from the foul line.
 
Noting Tonight's Game
-Lemetti extended his double-figure scoring streak to four games. He scored 16 tonight vs. St. Thomas following his career-high 23 points at UNLV.
-Lemetti has hit at least one three-pointer in every game this year. He's on a four game-stretch of hitting at least three from long range.
-Smith recorded a career-high 19 points. He was 8-of-14 from the field. He also dished out a career-high six assists.
-Fidler notched a new personal best with 18 points. He was 6-of-12 from the field with four three-pointers.
-Arop's career-high 10 boards makes him the second active player to notch a game with 10+ boards.
 
Up Next
The Mavericks are set to host the Western Illinois Leathernecks on Wednesday, Dec. 22. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Baxter Arena.
 
Gary Sharp will have the call on 1180 KZOT. Links to the stream, audio, and live stats can be found on OMavs.com.