OMAHA, Neb. – Trading blows, leads, timeouts and go-ahead baskets, the University of North Dakota (13-16, 7-8 Summit) fell one-point shy of ending an 11-game winless streak versus Omaha (16-14, 9-6 Summit) as a pair go-ahead baskets by Marlon Stewart in regulation and overtime fell short to the Mavericks, 84-83.
While Stewart provided late-game heroics with 21 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds, Filip Rebraca led all scorers with 24 points on 10 field goals, tying career-highs in both categories, while also recording his 11th double-double of the season with 13 rebounds as well. Kienan Walter added 16 points and seven rebounds.
“We’ve talked to our guys a lot about continuing to fight. Continuing to fight for this team, continuing to fight to find our 40 minutes, and I couldn’t be prouder of the fight we had in that second half,” said Head Coach Paul Sather. “I was really pleased with the way De’Sean came out and played in that second half and in overtime. Tonight’s disappointing because you can look back and say ‘man I wish we had done this different or that different,’ but the bottom line is our guys made some plays, and so did Omaha.”
It was no Matt Pile, no problem for Omaha as the Mavericks post player quickly found himself in foul trouble. North Dakota took advantage of the open space down low as it scored 22 of its 31 first-half points in the paint.
Rebraca was the driving force under the basket for UND as he closed the first half with 15 points and nine rebounds, backing his way to the rim, collecting boards on the offensive glass and scoring on the putback attempts.
The Fighting Hawks worked with what the defense was giving them as the Mavericks squeezed its guards down into the paint without Pile, forcing the ball in and out to make the Hawks players make one-on-one plays. As a result, UND only recorded four assists.
With both teams reaching media timeouts tied three out of four times, the sophomore combination of Wanjang Tut and Marlon Ruffin rallied Omaha at the end of the first half with a 16-7 run. Tut led the duo with 11 points while Ruffin dumped in nine points.
Pile came out like gangbusters in the second half, racking up eight quick points to put the Mavericks up by eight points with 15 minutes left in regulation. With Omaha hanging onto that eight-point lead with less than eight minutes remaining, De’Sean Allen-Eikens started a North Dakota rally with a basket and a free throw to set the stage for a Stewart basket that made it a one-point game.
After Pile went back to the bench after two quick fouls, UND mounted its charge and found itself on top again after a Walter trey. The Fighting Hawks led by four late after a deuce by Stewart but a free throw and trey with 6.4 seconds left by Robinson forced overtime.
As both teams traded baskets in overtime, North Dakota took its final lead with 17.1 left on a driving layup by Stewart. However, Robinson came up big again as he slashed his way to the paint a kissed a ball off the glass and through the basket for the Mavs first overtime win of the season.
North Dakota will close the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 29 when it takes on South Dakota in the second game of a doubleheader with the women’s team in Vermillion. The game is set to tip at 3:30 p.m.
