SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — Looking to make a run to a second straight Summit League men's basketball tournament championship, (5) Omaha Men's Basketball took control in the final 10 minutes as the fifth-seeded Mavericks pulled away from (4) South Dakota 76-62 Friday night in Sioux Falls.
The win moves Omaha (16-16) into Saturday's semifinal against top-seeded North Dakota State at 7 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network. It's the third straight year that the Mavericks have reached the tournament semifinal.
Senior guard Ja'Sean Glover scored 15 of his game-high 25 points in the final 10:30 to lead the Mavericks. Omaha also got a spark off the bench from Julian Margrave, who made three 3-pointers and added 11 points. Margrave hadn't scored a point since New Year's Day prior to Friday's win.
Omaha's bench outscored South Dakota 40-14. Among Omaha's starters, Lance Waddles finished with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Paul Djobet scored seven points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
It's the first time this season that Omaha has defeated the Coyotes. South Dakota (16-16) won by four in Omaha and then won 89-72 in Vermillion last Wednesday.
Unlike the previous meetings this year, Omaha rarely trailed Friday.
Omaha never trailed in the first half as the Mavericks bolted to a 10-2 lead, thanks to a pair of 3-pointers from Waddles.
But South Dakota stayed close by hitting five 3-pointers in the first 13 minutes. The Coyotes tied it late in the first half before Waddles drained another 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to give Omaha a 34-31 halftime lead.
South Dakota grabbed its first lead at 44-43 with 11 minutes left as Omaha went scoreless for nearly six minutes. But it was all Mavericks after that.
A Glover layup gave the lead back to Omaha, then the senior guard got to the free-throw line by attacking the paint and hit 6 of 6 free throws to make it 51-46 with 7:22 left.
Margrave sank two 3-pointers in a three-minute span to stretch Omaha's lead to 64-54 with 3:45 left. South Dakota never got closer than nine after that.
Omaha's defense also sparkled as the Coyotes shot 31 percent from the field.
Now the Mavericks will face a North Dakota State team that defeated Omaha by single digits twice this season. The Bison won at the buzzer in Omaha, then North Dakota State won 92-84 in Fargo when Djobet scored 38 for the Mavericks.
