February 19, 2004
Men's Basketball Slips past Regis
Lopers Force Turnovers to Get Win
Kearney, NE – North Platte senior forward Nick Branting scored 31 points, his fifth 30 point game of the year, to lead the 7th-ranked Nebraska-Kearney men's basketball team to a hard fought 75-70 win over Regis Thursday night at the Health & Sports Center.
It was the Lopers (23-2, 15-2 RMAC) final home game of the year while the Rangers fall to 13-11 (7-9 RMAC) on the season.
Regis took the air out of the ball to push UNK all night long. The Lopers scored 27 points off 22 Ranger turnovers, which helped them lead 70-57 with 4:06 to play.
However, UNK didn't score for nearly four minutes and saw Regis climb within five, 70-65, after a Kent Brown jumper with 39 seconds left.
Grand Island senior Brian Dunagan hit two free throws to end the scoring drought, but Casey Fisher responded with a three-pointer to cut the Loper lead to four with 17 seconds remaining.
The Lopers hit three of four free throws the rest of the way to hold off Regis.
Branting hit 12 of 20 shots and was 7 of 9 at the free throw line. He also led the team with nine rebounds.
Utah junior Will Taukiuvea (14) and Columbus freshman Dusty Jura (10) were the other players in double figures.
Zach Gelhaus had 16 second half points to lead the Rangers in scoring with 21. Also, Austin Christensen (13 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists) was just three assists shy of a triple double.
UNK held a nine point first half lead but Jay Goral hit three treys in just over a minute to tie the game at 27. The Lopers led by five at the break and were ahead 46-40 with 14:18 to play when they had a key run.
Two Regis turnovers led to four Loper points and the UNK lead was suddenly at ten. After Regis scored nine straight, UNK went on a 14-2 run to lead by 13, 64-51, with 9:47 left. Like the previous run, UNK turned two Regis turnovers into four points.
UNK plays next Thursday at Chadron State.
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Contact:
Peter Yazvac
yazvacpa@unk.edu |