December 31, 2004

Men Cagers Hit Offensive Glass in Win

Dean Ties School Record

            Kearney, Neb. –  The Nebraska-Kearney men's basketball team grabbed 23 offensive rebounds and forced 25 turnovers in a 103-91 win over Midland Lutheran Thursday night at the Health & Sports Center.

            Winners of eight straight, this was UNK's (8-2) first game since December 18^th. The NAIA Warriors dropped its third in a row to be 3-12 on the season.

            The taller Lopers out rebounded Midland 46-31 and had a 56-25 edge in points in the paint. UNK also scored 30 points off Midland turnovers.

            The margin of victory could've been greater as UNK shot 46 percent tonight, including a 4 of 18 effort (22 percent) from the three point line. The Lopers missed a lot of its shots inside and that led to only 19 second chance points.

            Midland kept it close by sinking 13 of 21 three point shots. The Lopers last three opponents have combined to make 35 triples.

            A 9-0 run late in the first half gave the Lopers its first double figure lead, 43-32, of the night. UNK got its lead to 20 points three minutes into the second half and were never really threatened after that.

            Midland did get it down to 12 points, 96-84, with 3:32 to go but the Warriors then scored only one point over the next two minutes.

            Five players were in double figures, led by sophomore Dusty Jura with 24. The Columbus lefty sunk two threes in the game and also had eight rebounds and five steals in just 25 minutes.

            He played only nine minutes in the first half after taking a rough spill.

            California junior Chris Dean chipped in with 22 points and eight rebounds. He did most of his damage at the free throw line where he was a perfect 12 of 12.

            While game records don't go that far back, the effort ties Nick Branting for highest free throw percentage in a game (minimum 10 attempts). Branting made all 12 free shots in a December 2001 game at Fort Lewis.

            Also for UNK, Utah senior Will Taukiuvea tied his season-high (17), Colorado sophomore Chad Burger had 10 points and eight boards and Litchfield junior Matt Kucera has a season-high 10 points off the bench.

            Seven Warriors were in double figures, led by Jeremy Prchal with 15. He was 4 of 4 from the three point line with Matt Turner (11) adding three more triples.

            UNK hosts RMAC foes Adams State and Fort Lewis next weekend.