OMAHA, Neb. - Omaha Men's Basketball trailed Kansas City by single digits for nearly the entire second half as the Roos held off the Mavericks for a 73-66 win at Baxter Arena on Saturday night.
The loss snapped a nine-game winning streak in home conference games for Omaha (7-10, 0-2 Summit). It was the first road trip of the season for Kansas City (4-12, 1-1 Summit).
Omaha twice cut its deficit to two points in the final six minutes, but that's as close as the Mavs got.
Paul Djobet led Omaha with 16 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while
Grant Stubblefield scored a career-high 14 points and had two steals.
Tony Osburn had 12 points on four 3-pointers, all of which came after halftime.
While Omaha was chasing the Roos after halftime, Omaha never trailed in the first 16 minutes as the Mavs led by six on three occasions.
But Omaha couldn't create separation and then it went without a field goal in the final seven minutes of the first half. That allowed Kansas City to take a 32-28 lead into the break.
Kansas City extended its lead in the opening minutes of the second period to 40-30. The Roos hit seven of their first nine shots of the second half.
Omaha faced an uphill climb the rest of the night.
Its best run was a 7-0 push that cut the deficit to 59-57 with 5:35 left. During that run, Osburn hit a 3-pointer, Djobet scored on a putback and
Christian Richardson threw down a dunk in transition.
But Kansas City always came up with an answer as Omaha never had a possession with a chance to tie.
A Djobet layup with 1:30 left pulled the Mavs within 68-66. Kansas City then answered with two free throws with 56 seconds left on its next possession.
In the final 45 seconds, Omaha committed two turnovers and missed a pair of shots from the field.
Omaha finished with a 35-30 rebounding edge, but the Mavs committed 15 turnovers compared to Kansas City's seven.
Omaha continues its three-game homestand against North Dakota at 7 p.m. Thursday.
