Like Football & Volleyball, Men's Basketball Beats UNO

Balanced Lopers Sink Free Throws Down the Stretch 
2nd Double Double for Dentlinger 

Kearney, Neb. - The Nebraska-Kearney men's basketball grabbed 50 rebounds, sunk 19 of 20 free throws and used a balanced offensive attack to beat rival Nebraska-Omaha, 86-74, Tuesday night at the Health & Sports Center.

This was UNK's home opener. The Mavericks, mean while, drop to 2-1 and see a three-game win streak over the Lopers come to an end. Overall, UNK (2-2)  leads the all-time series, 46-40.

In a game that featured seven lead and six ties, Kearney played the last three minutes without junior wing Max Froehlich (Pierce). The preseason All-RMAC had his best game of the year, recording team-highs in points (21) and assists (six).

However, Froehlich picked up his fourth foul at the 8:29 mark with UNK ahead 63-55. UNO promptly went on an 8-2 run over the two minutes to cut the Loper lead to two.

UNO never got over the hump as Froehlich returned to the court and hit a three to make it 72-67 at the five minute mark. When he picked up his fifth foul with 3:09 left, UNO got within one, 73-72, but two free throws from freshman post Mike Dentlinger (Millard North) and a three from junior forward Chris Deans (Hemingford) quickly pushed the Loper lead back to six.

Coming into the game shooting 75.6 percent at the line, UNK went 8 for 8 in the final minute to secure the win. Overall, the team went 17 of 18 at the line in the second half.

Also having a plus rebounding margin (3.0) through the first three games, the Lopers out boarded UNO 50-33, which featured a 29-14 margin after halftime. Finally, UNK had just two turnovers in the first half and 12 for the game.

Froehlich went 7 of 13 (4 of 7 threes) to reach his point total with his four made threes tying a career-high effort. Dentlinger (13 points, 12 rebounds) had his second double double of the year and junior post Beau Baker (Denver) sinking 8 of 11 shots to tally 16 points off the bench.

Finally, Deans hit three triples to score 13 points and sophomore guard Akeem Morissaint (Delray Beach, Fla.) had seven rebounds, six points and six assists.

UNO was led by starters Tyler Bullock and Aaron Terry, who each scored 15 points. Bullock also had eight assists, four rebounds and three steals with Torrian Harris having 11 points, a team-best seven boards and three blocks.

UNK hosts Western State and Mesa State next weekend to start RMAC play.