DENVER - Ja'Sean Glover provided the spark to a comeback from 13 points down in the second half Saturday afternoon.
Paul Djobet then helped the Mavericks survive a frantic final minute as Omaha Men's Basketball earned an 84-82 win over Denver.
In a fast-paced game that featured wild swings of momentum, Omaha (12-12, 5-4 Summit League) never lost its lead in the final minute even after Denver cut the Maverick lead to one twice in the final 31 seconds.
"The way we handled the second half, I've so proud of the guys," head coach
Chris Crutchfield said. "Great team effort."
Denver (10-14, 3-6) led 46-33 early in the second half when Glover put the Mavericks on his back. The senior needed just two minutes to score 14 straight points for Omaha to tie the score at 49-49. He finished with 19 points off the bench.
Omaha regained the lead at 52-49 on a three-point play with 12:51 left by
Grant Stubblefield, who scored a career-high 17 points.
Denver answered by scoring nine in arow, but Omaha regained the lead for good at 62-60 on a dunk by freshman
Brock Scholl with 8:45 left. The Omaha Skutt graduate finished with eight points and nine rebounds.
Denver was within 71-70 with two minutes left, but then Djobet came through with back-to-back three-point plays to extend the lead to 77-70 with 1:24 left.
Djobet finished with a career-best 27 points and 11 rebounds for his third consecutive double-double.
Denver made another charge, pulling within 79-77 with 42 seconds left. Then Glover hit two free throws and Djobet hit two more.
Denver kept answering. With Omaha up 83-82, Denver missed a 3-pointer and Djobet grabbed the defensive rebound. He hit 1 of 2 free throws with 3.7 seconds left and Denver didn't get off a shot before the final buzzer.
The Mavericks couldn't have asked for a better start Saturday. Omaha raced to a 9-0 lead, capped by a Stubblefield layup at the 16:30 mark.
But Denver quickly heated up as the Pioneers went on an 18-2 run over the next eight minutes.
Denver hit four 3-pointers during that run. Denver was able to extend its lead to 35-27 by halftime, then it stretched the lead to 46-33 before Omaha stormed back.
"I challenged our guys at halftime. We weren't tough enough in the first half," Crutchfield said. "They answered the challenge."
Besides Stubblefield's 17 points, he also added five rebounds and four assists.
Lance Waddles chipped in 10 points and six rebounds.
Omaha stays on the road and will play at North Dakota on Thursday.
