By Chad Courrier
Free Press Staff Writer
MANKATO — Minnesota State's goal of winning the North Central Conference ended in a mass of bodies as Nebraska-Omaha's Levi Jones emerged from a pack to pull down an offensive rebound with less than a second remaining and scored on the putback, lifting his team to a 90-88 victory in double overtime.
It was a game that the Mavericks seemed to have wrapped up on a couple of occasions, and there were times that Nebraska-Omaha appeared to have a handle on the victory.
"This hurts," senior guard Andy Moeller said. "We put so much into (winning a conference championship), we had goals. When you come up short, it hurts."
Nebraska-Omaha (23-4, 9-3 in NCC) won the conference championship outright in front of 4,004 fans, the second-largest crowd ever at Bresnan Arena. It was the second overtime game of the season, along with a 101-98 victory over St. Cloud State on Jan. 14.
The Mavericks (21-6, 7-5), who tied for third in the NCC but are seeded fourth for the tournament, will now host North Dakota on Tuesday in the opening round. Minnesota State had clinched a top-four seed and home game in the tournament before halftime Saturday as Minnesota-Duluth knocked off North Dakota 95-82 at Duluth.
But that didn't limit the intensity of Saturday's game, which ended with an oncourt altercation between players, coaches and administrators.
"I'm very disappointed, being at home, we didn't get the calls down the stretch that a home team normally gets," Minnesota State coach Matt Margenthaler said. "I thought (Nebraska-Omaha) had more of a homecourt advantage with the calls than we did."
There were 16 fouls called in the first half, 30 in the second half and 11 in the two overtimes. The Mavericks made 19 of 26 free throws in the second half, 6 of 11 in overtime. Nebraska-Omaha made only 12 of 21 free throws in the second half but were 7 of 10 in the two extra five-minute periods.
"The refs (screwed) us," Moeller said. "We got (screwed). But you have to give (Nebraska-Omaha) credit, they made the plays."
The Mavericks, ranked 14th in Division II and third in the North Central Region, went more than five minutes without scoring in the first half, as 11th-rated Nebraska-Omaha, ranked first in the region, scored 10 straight points to lead 19-9 with 12 minutes remaining.
Minnesota State later reeled off 10 straight points as Jamel Staten nailed consecutive 3-pointers to draw within 24-21, but Nebraska-Omaha again pulled away. Luke Anderson's 3-pointer in the final seconds brought the Mavericks within 35-30.
Nebraska-Omaha got the lead up to 46-38 midway through the second half, but the Mavericks steadily cut into the deficit, taking the lead at 58-56 on Jamel Staten's 3-pointer with 4:21 remaining.
The lead changed six times before the end of regulation, and the Mavericks had a handful of chances at a tip-in during the final seconds. But none went, and the game went into overtime tied at 65.
The Mavericks went ahead 75-73 on Joe Williams' layup in the final minute, but Nebraska-Omaha's Ryan Curtis tied the game with a dunk with six seconds to play.
Moeller drove the ball the length of the court, but his contested layup just rolled off at the buzzer, forcing a second overtime.
Nebraska-Omaha held an 86-81 lead with 1:31 remaining, but Anderson canned consecutive 3-pointers in the final minute, the second tying the game at 88 with seven seconds to go.
Nebraska-Omaha drove the ball down court, and the first shot missed, but the 6-foot-10 Jones grabbed the ball underneath and scored on the putback.
"This should have been over in regulation," Moeller said.
Moeller finished with 24 points, scoring 12 in the final 11 minutes of the game. He made four 3-pointers, three in the overtimes. Moeller also had nine rebounds and seven assists.
Anderson added 21 points, also making four 3-pointers.
The Mavericks now prepare for Tuesday's game, which will determine who advances to the tournament semifinals but also could be a key factor in who gets an invitation to the NCAA tournament. The NCC will likely get four teams invited to the national tourney but have five teams with more than 20 victories.
"We can't let this affect us," Margenthaler said. "We have to regroup, we're still playing for an NCC bid and a conference tournament championship. It's tough emotionally, but that's what we'll be working on in the next 48 hours."
