OMAHA, Neb. -- The Omaha men's basketball team saw a second half lead slip away Saturday night, falling 81-69 to North Dakota in the Mavericks' home finale at Baxter Arena.
 
Leaders for Omaha
Matt Pile and Ayo Akinwole, who were honored with Senior Night festivities before the game, each finished with an identical 16 points and five rebounds to pace the Mavericks in both categories. Akinwole was a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc.
 
Jadin Booth had 12 points off the bench, and La'Mel Robinson added another 10 points with five boards and four assists.
 
Leaders for North Dakota
Bentiu Panoam finished with a game-high 19 points on five 3-pointers with five rebounds, and Filip Rebraca turned in a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Ethan Igbanugo added another 16 points with three 3-pointers.
 
Team Stats
North Dakota shot 50.8% (30-of-59) to Omaha's 44.4% (28-of-63) and finished with nine 3-pointers for the night. The Fighting Hawks had a 42-24 advantage on the glass, including 13-6 on the offensive end, and had a 17-3 edge in second-chance scoring.
 
Omaha limited itself to eight turnovers for the second straight night.
 
Inside the First Half
North Dakota had the lead early, going up 15-4 less than six minutes in. But the Mavericks responded with a 10-0 run started with a Kyle Luedtke three and pulled within one at 17-16 by 11:23. The scoring spurt extended to 18-2 as Omaha worked its way in front by five, and the Mavericks held on to the lead for the rest of the period.
 
A Robinson three punctuated the half to give Omaha a 44-38 advantage by the break.
The Mavericks shot it well at 58.6% (17-of-29) in the first half. They were bolstered by a 12-point half from Booth, who was a perfect 4-of-4 with a pair of triples.
 
Inside the Second Half
The score stalled three times before UND used a 12-0 run to regain the lead for the final time. The Fighting Hawks shot 53.6% (15-of-28) in the closing 20 minutes.
 
Akinwole was 4-of-6 with his pair of threes for 10 points, and Pile matched him with 10 more on 5-of-9 shooting.
 
Noting Tonight's Game
-Ayo Akinwole's scoring performance was his sixth straight in double figures.
-Omaha is now 3-19 (1-11 Summit League) on the year, while UND improves to 9-16 (8-8).
 
Up Next
Omaha concludes the regular season next weekend at Denver, with tipoff set for 5 p.m. CT on Friday, Feb. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 27 at Hamilton Gymnasium in Denver, Colo. Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1290 KOIL on Friday and 1180 The Zone on Saturday, and links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.