OMAHA, Neb. -- Ayo Akinwole registered his second straight 20-point scoring performance Saturday night as the Omaha men's basketball team fell 75-73 to Western Illinois at Baxter Arena.
Leaders for Omaha
A night after finishing with a career-high 27 points, Akinwole came up big again, finishing with 21 to lead the way for Omaha. The senior captain hit 8-of-11 from the floor and added three rebounds and three assists.
Marlon Ruffin posted 13 points with a trio of 3-pointers, and
Wanjang Tut had 12 points and six rebounds.
La'Mel Robinson matched Tut with another 12 points, as well as three assists and a game-best three steals.
Matt Pile also pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds alongside five points and a season-high five blocks.
Leaders for Western Illinois
Will Carius led all scorers with 22 points, and Colton Sandage and Justin Brookens added 11 points apiece.
Team Stats
Omaha shot 44% (28-of-63) to WIU's 38% (24-of-63), but the Leathernecks were 96% (21-of-22) from the free throw line to the Mavericks' 60% (12-of-20). WIU had a 43-37 rebounding advantage.
Inside the First Half
Akinwole got it started with the first score of the game, but WIU took the lead and held on to it for the rest of the half. The Mavericks trailed by as many as 11 when Burrell made it 27-16 with six minutes to the break.
Akinwole poured in a quick five points as part of a 7-0 run that trimmed the margin to 31-29 three minutes later.
WIU held a 37-32 edge at the midway point.
Inside the Second Half
A back-and-forth second half saw five ties and 10 lead changes. The game stalled three times in the final five and half minutes before a pair of Akinwole free throws put Omaha back on top, 70-69, with 3:14 to play. It was Omaha's final lead of the night.
Still, the game came down to the wire, as the Mavericks found themselves down 73-70 with 27 seconds remaining.
Nick Ferrarini hit a pair at the stripe with seven seconds left, which cut it to 73-72.
After Brookens made two more at the line put WIU up by three again -- 75-72 -- Robinson was fouled and hit his first attempt at the stripe. He then grabbed the rebound on the ensuing intentional miss, and a final layup missed as time expired.
Omaha is now 2-16 (0-8 Summit League) on the season, while WIU improves to 5-12 (3-7) with its third straight win.
Up Next
Omaha visits Kansas City for a two-game series starting next Friday, Feb. 12, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. at the Swinney Center in Kansas City, Mo. Gary Sharp will have the radio call on 1290 KOIL, and links to live video, audio and stats will be available on OMavs.com.
