OMAHA, Neb. – Sam'i Roe scored a career-high 15 points to lead the Mavericks at St. Thomas Saturday night. The Tommies took a 95-76 win despite the Mavericks shooting nearly 50 percent from the field.
 
The Mavericks fall to 5-24 overall and 4-14 in Summit League action.
 
Leaders for Omaha
Roe led Omaha with 15 points. He was 5-of-9 from the field and made five from the line. Frankie Fidler added 14 points, and Akol Arop scored 10.
 
Five different Mavericks tallied three rebounds for a team-high. Felix Lemetti dished out three assists.
 
Leaders for St. Thomas
Anders Nelson led the Tommies with 20 points on 6-of-9 from the field with two threes. Riley Miller scored 17, while Parker Bjorklund and Kevin Cunningham tallied 14 each. Cunningham led the game with four made three-pointers.
 
Bjorklund grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, while Nelson tallied three assists and two steals.
 
Team Stats
The Mavericks shot 49.1 percent from the field and hit four three-pointers. The Tommies shot 60.1 percent from the field and finished 10-of-22 from deep.
 
St. Thomas held a slight advantage in the paint out scoring Omaha, 40-38. The Tommie bench also led the game, 31-29.
 
Inside the First Half
The first half started as a back-and-forth battle between the Mavericks and Tommies with each taking eight leads through the first nine minutes of action. Lemetti started the Omaha offense with a three-pointer for a 3-2 lead out of the gates. St. Thomas then jumped out to a four-point lead that was chipped away by Fidler and Arop to knot the game, 9-9.
 
With 12:10 on the clock, Arop completed a three-point play for a 16-15 Omaha lead. Just under two minutes later Brougham would do the same to tie it 19-19. Fidler and Nick Ferrarini scored five straight with Ferrarini's three at the 6:41 mark giving the Mavericks a 29-28 edge. It would be the final lead of the half for Omaha after the Tommies used a 13-2 run over the next three minutes to pull away. UST led at the break, 47-36.
 
Inside the Second Half
The Tommies heated up from the field in the second to take control of the game. Miller opened the half with a three-pointer followed by a layup from Ryan Lindberg for a 16-point lead. Dylan Brougham used a three-point play to cut the lead back down to 13. At the 16:47 mark, Marco Smith connected from deep to bring the Mavericks within 12. Omaha would get within 12 less than a minute later on a layup from Hughes, but St. Thomas pulled away from there.
 
UST took its first 20+ point lead on a three from Kevin Cunningham midway through the half. Nelson then scored four straight for a 25-point lead. With 5:22 on the clock, Nelson struck again from three-point range for an 87-58 advantage. Late baskets from Roe helped Omaha chip away, but the Tommies prevailed, 95-74.
 
Noting Tonight's Game
-Roe's 15 points marked a career-high and first game in double-figures.
-Fidler's double-figure scoring streak extends to six games.
-The Mavericks earned the No. 8 seed in the Summit League Tournament.
 
Up Next
Omaha will play in the 2021-22 Summit League Tournament next weekend in Sioux Falls as the No. 8 seed. The Mavericks will face a top-seeded South Dakota State team on Saturday at 6 p.m. A full preview will be available at OMavs.com early next week.
 
Gary Sharp will have the call on 1180 KZOT. Links to the stream, audio, and live stats can be found on OMavs.com.