IDAHO FALLS, Idaho - Following an opening round victory in the first ever Big Sky-Summit Challenge, the Mavericks finished the event at 1-1 after falling at the last second to Idaho State 63-62 in their final non-conference game of the year on Saturday.

Omaha is now 8-9 on the season and completes non-conference play with a 7-8 record. As for the Bengals, they finish 1-1 in the Challenge and improve to 5-10 on the season. 

Leaders for Omaha 
Marquel Sutton was Omaha's leading scorer with 17 points after shooting 6-for-12 from the field and 3-for-3 at the line. JJ White was right behind him with 12 points, as well as team highs in rebounds (six), assists (five), and steals (three). Frankie Fidler rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 points, while Jamal Ambrose led the team with two blocks.

Leaders for Idaho State 
Brayden Parker was the only Bengal in double digits with 14 points after shooting 5-for-12. Isaiah Griffin and Maleek Arlington led the defense with the former getting six boards and the latter having five steals. 

Team Stats 
Thanks to a huge second half, the Mavericks ultimately outshot the Bengals on FG% (47.8% to 45.3%), 3-PT FG% (50.0% to 37.5%), and FT% (86.7% to 66.7%). Omaha also outrebounded ISU 28 to 27. The key difference maker ended up being Idaho State's 14 to 2 advantage in second chance points. 

Inside the First Half 
In a razor close first half, White did it all for Omaha as he led the way in points (seven), assists (two), and steals (three), as well as pulling down three rebounds. He got the Mavericks started with a steal to set up Tony Osburn for a three at 18:23, and later made the feed to Ambrose who scored from under the net at 12:12. He also added a triple at 10:37 to give Omaha a 14-12 lead, followed by another steal and a layup on the fast break to make it 20-19 with just over seven minutes remaining.

Buckets from Osburn and Nick Davis helped tie the game at 24-24 with less than three minutes left, before Ja'Sean Glover grabbed an offensive board and made the layup to keep it tied 27-27 at 1:17. After Davis made a pair from the stripe to give Omaha a two-point lead, Idaho State came right back and tied it at 29-29 to send it to the half.

Inside the Second Half 
The Mavericks began the second with an 8-0 scoring run, starting with five points from Sutton and capped off by a three-point jumper from Fidler just two minutes in. After the Bengals broke up the streak, Sutton promptly made it a 10-point game with his first three of the day at 15:51, before scoring his 10th point of the half 50 seconds later to make it 43-31.

The lead continued to grow with White connecting with Fidler on an alley-oop, Sutton draining another three, and Davis making a layup all in the span of 90 seconds to put Omaha up 50-33 at 12:50. However, Idaho State suddenly came alive and began picking away at the deficit, outscoring the Mavericks 21-6 over the next eight minutes to cut the lead to 58-54. A layup from Davis finally ended ISU's 10-0 run with 4:50 remaining

With 2:08 to go, Omaha's lead shrunk to 62-61. Neither team scored over the next two minutes, until with just one second remaining the Bengals managed to complete the comeback with the game winning basket.

Game Notes 
- Sutton was held to just two points in the first half. He totaled 15 points in the second.
- Fidler moves up one spot from 23rd to 22nd on the all-time scoring list with 1135 career points.

Up Next 
It is all conference games from here on out as the Mavericks return home to host North Dakota this Thursday at 7 p.m.