DENVER -- The Omaha men's basketball team swept its weekend series with an 80-76 win at Denver Saturday night at Hamilton Gymnasium, locking in the No. 8 seed for next week's Summit League Tournament.
Leaders for Omaha
A balanced scoring attack saw all nine Mavericks contribute and five finish in double figures.
Ayo Akinwole led the way with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, three rebounds and a team-best six assists.
Nick Ferrarini hit three 3-pointers en route to 13 points, and
Matt Pile,
La'Mel Robinson and
Kyle Luedtke each added 12 points. Luedtke's total was a career high, and Robinson also pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds.
Leaders for Denver
Jase Townsend paced Denver with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-17 shooting, and Robert Jones had a double-double on 13 points and 10 rebounds with five blocks.
Team Stats
Omaha shot 39.7% (23-of-58) to Denver's 43.9% (25-of-57). The Mavericks hit six triples, all from the bench between Ferrarini and Luedtke.
Free throw shooting came up big for Omaha, which was 82.4% (28-of-34) from the stripe. Omaha and Denver each had 37 rebounds for the night.
Inside the First Half
The Mavericks didn't score for the first three and a half minutes of the game, and Denver led by as many as seven before Omaha made its push. A 6-0 run punctuated with a Robinson layup tied it at 15-all.
Late in the half, Luedtke canned a pair of threes to put Omaha ahead 23-21. Denver was held scoreless for the last 2:13, and another short run -- this time 5-0 -- culminated with Ferrarini three at the buzzer to give the Mavericks a 30-24 advantage at the break.
Omaha shared the scoring duties, as five players had five or more points. Pile, despite playing just eight minutes with foul trouble, had seven points in the half.
Inside the Second Half
Akinwole paced the Mavericks with 11 points in the second half, finishing 3-of-5 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 at the stripe.
Back-to-back buckets from Pile pushed the Omaha lead to 40-31 by four minutes in, but Denver responded with a 7-0 run. Ferrarini then hit a pair of threes to make it 50-42 before the under-12 media timeout.
DU managed to tie it at 54-54, then took the lead again at 59-58 on a Townsend three with seven minutes to play. The score stalled three more times up to 65-65, and Omaha finally regained the lead for good 67-66 after five straight points from Akinwole.
With 1:48 left, Luedtke nailed a triple from the left wing to spot the Mavericks a 72-70 lead. Free throw shooting was crucial in the second stanza, as Omaha was 25-of-29 from the line, including 6-of-8 in the final 33 seconds to finish it off.
Noting Tonight's Game
-
Ayo Akinwole has scored in double figures in eight consecutive games, and Pile has a double-figure effort in four straight.
-All nine Mavericks scored in the second half, contributing at least three points apiece.
-Tonight's sweep of Denver marks the first time Omaha has won back-to-back games this season.
-The Mavericks improved to 5-19 (3-11 Summit League), while the Pioneers end the season at 2-19 (1-13).
Up Next
Omaha awaits the release of the finalized bracket for the Summit League Tournament, set for March 6-9 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. As the No. 8 seed, the Mavericks will face the tournament's top-seeded team in the quarterfinals on Saturday, March 6 at 5:45 p.m.
The game will be broadcast live on Midco and ESPN+, and Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1180 The Zone. Links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.
