OMAHA, Neb. - A career night from senior forward
Valentino Simon and an outstanding offensive finish propelled the Omaha Men's Basketball team to a 98-94 win over St. Thomas on Thursday night at Baxter Arena.
Simon nearly doubled his career-high for points as he finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.
He was one of five Mavericks in double figures as
Grant Stubblefield matched his career high with 22 points.
Ja'Sean Glover contributed 22 points off the bench, while
Tony Osburn had 14 points and
Paul Djobet chipped in with 10 points, all in the second half.
The win improves Omaha (13-14) to 6-6 in the Summit League as it knocked off the second-place team in the conference. St. Thomas falls to 20-7 and 9-3 in the Summit.
After Simon, who entered the night averaging 2.2 points per game, carried the Mavs during the opening half when he had 15 points. His career high had been 11 points, but he was in the starting lineup Thursday.
"We liked the matchup, I was quicker than their 5-man. We practiced for it all week and tonight I was ready," Simon said. "I'm an energy guy, the team kind of feeds off my energy."
While Simon stayed narrowly in front for most of the first 25 minutes, St. Thomas went on a 21-5 run early in the second half to take a seven-point lead. The Tommies' lead was still 76-71 with five minutes left before Omaha finished strong.
Omaha hit three consecutive 3-pointers from the left wing - two by Glover and one by Osburn - to grab an 80-76 lead with 3:20 left. Omaha maintained the lead the rest of the way, securing the win by hitting 10 of 10 free throws in the final 48 seconds.
Stubblefield hit six of those free throws. He matched his career high, which was set last week at North Dakota, and also contributed six rebounds and seven assists.
St. Thomas never got closer than four in the final minute. It was the fifth straight game in the series that the home team won.
Omaha continues its homestand with a noon start Sunday against Denver. That game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
