March 6, 2004

Men Win in Overtime

Lopers Rally Past Mesa State

Kearney, Neb. – Senior Nick Branting had 28 points and 11 rebounds and junior Will Taukiuvea had all 18 points after halftime as 7^th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney slipped past Mesa State, 91-88 in overtime, Saturday night in the RMAC Tournament semifinals in Colorado Springs.

UNK (26-3) will play No. 1 Metro State tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. CST. The Roadrunners beat Fort Lewis, 90-76, earlier tonight. The Mavericks (19-9) saw its 10-game win streak end and lost for only the four time in the last 22 contests.

In overtime, UNK scored the fist four points to take an 85-81 lead. Two Branting free throws with 1:14 to play kept the lead at four, 89-85, but Mesa’s Jeremy Cummings hit a three from the left wing to cut the lead to one with 58 seconds left.

UNK ran the shot clock down and got the ball to Branting, who hit a leaner in the lane with 25 seconds to go. Mesa’s Marcus Brubaker missed a long three pointer from the top of the key with five ticks to go and senior Jacob Mohs got the subsequent rebound to seal the win.

Mesa forced the extra period when Aaron Hill hit a three from the top of the key with four seconds left. UNK, which trailed the entire second half, including by as many as 11 points, finally got the lead back, 79-78, after Taukiuvea hit a triple from the left corner with 49 seconds to go.

Mesa missed a shot in the lane 20 seconds later and then two free throws by senior Brian Dunagan made the score 81-78. Then, Hill followed with his dramatic shot.

A very physical game, the two teams combined for 45 fouls and 59 free throws. Columbus sophomore Dusty Jura had a quick 11 points but fouled out with 6:40 to go in regulation and finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds. By the end of the overtime, Branting and senior Chad Sheffield were each playing with four fouls.

 UNK shot just 44.6 percent from the field, including a 5 of 22 effort from the three point line (0-8 in the first half). The Lopers did out rebound the Mavericks by five, 43-38, including a 17-11 edge on the offensive glass.

Branting was 10 of 23 from the field and also had five assists and five steals. Taukiuvea made 6 of 10 shots from the field after intermission, including a 2 of 3 effort from the three point line.

Also having a big effort after halftime was Dunagan, who scored 10 of his 12 points in the final 25 minutes. He tied Branting in minutes played with 44. 

Andy Classick (17 points, 14 rebounds) and Hill (14 points) led Mesa.

The Mavericks out scored UNK 16-5 over the final seven minutes of the first half to take a 38-31 lead into the locker room. Things only got worse for the Lopers as Mesa scored the first two buckets of the second half to take an 11 point lead, 42-31.

A 15-6 Loper run in a four minute span got the Mesa lead down to two, 50-48, and the Mavs never led by more than seven points the rest of regulation.