Men miss chance at upset

OMAHA, Neb. -- At least North Dakota State is closing the gap.

Last year, the Bison were seemingly 114 years from beating Nebraska-Omaha. Thursday night, they came within 1.4 seconds.

Seth Nelson's leaning 15-foot jumper gave the Mavericks a 76-74 North Central Conference men's basketball victory at the Sapp Fieldhouse.

It deflated NDSU's hopes for a surprising conference start. If

anything, the Bison served notice that they can play with anybody.

"We got a good idea that our way of playing works," NDSU head coach Tim Miles said.

The Bison did not get a field goal after Ben Nemmers' 3-pointer with 2:58 left. Thanks to UNO's free-throw ineptness -- the Mavericks were 13 of 30 -- the Bison had life.

"It comes down to making free throws and we didn't do it," UNO guard Dan Morrow said. "We had to win it the hard way."

Denver TenBroek's two free throws with 12 seconds remaining tied it at 74. After a timeout,

Nelson took the ball at midcourt, drove to the left of the free-throw circle and faked a shot against Nemmers.

Nemmers didn't budge, so Nelson sank an off-balance shot.

"A big-time play," Nemmers said.

It was the same kind of shot Nelson's teammates have razzed him about in the past.

"They call them ugly shots," Nelson said, "but some of them go in."

Nelson showed no emotion after the shot.

"We didn't play too well and I wasn't too happy," he said. "We shouldn't have been in that position in the first place with our free throws."

Last year, the Bison were sunk early in Omaha when they lost 75-63. They faced a similar situation Thursday when the Mavericks took a 10-point lead at halftime.

It took awhile, but the Bison eventually caught the Mavs. Guard CoCo Cofield's driving layup tied it at 59-59 with 7:29 left.

"We started making the hustle plays," Nemmers said.

Later, Shawn Gabbert's steal and dunk tied it at 63. But Morrrow's 3-pointer and two free throws re-established the Maverick lead at 68-64.

Yet, Nemmers' 3-pointer pulled the Bison within 71-70, setting up a final three-minute duel.

Nemmers led the Bison with 21 points. TenBroek had 18. But UNO shot 67 percent from the field -- with Nelson's bucket being the big one.

"If he keeps making those, he's an all-conference player," Miles said. "I wouldn't do anything differently defensively there."

NDSU (9-4 overall, 0-1 NCC): Gabbert 1-4 3-4 5, TenBroek 7-13 3-5 18, Banks 3-8 3-4 9, Nemmers 8-15 0-0 21, Cofield 3-12 0-0 6, Witt 1-1 2-2 5, Dobmeier 0-1 0-0 0, Terry 1-2 0-0 2, Kelchen 1-2 5-6 7. Totals: 25-58 17-23 74.

UNO (10-1, 1-0): Morrow 5-6 4-5 18, Curtis 6-7 1-2 13, Wetzel 6-8 1-6 13, Kapels 0-1 0-4 0, Nelson 5-12 3-4 13, Graham 3-4 1-4 8, Robinson 0-0 0-0 0, DeSpain 2-2 3-4 7, Kohls 1-1 0-0 2, Dada 1-2 0-1 2. Totals: 29-43 13-30 76.

Halftime: UNO 40, NDSU 30. Total fouls: NDSU , UNO . Fouled out: Terry, Wetzel. Total rebounds: NDSU 28 (TenBroek 7); UNO 32 (Curtis 9). 3-point goals: NDSU 7-20 (Gabbert 0-1, TenBroek 1-5, Banks 0-1, Nemmers 5-7, Cofield 0-3, Witt 1-1, Dobmeier 0-1, Terry 0-1); UNO 5-10 (Morrow 4-5, Nelson 0-3, Graham 1-2). Assists: NDSU 13 (Gabbert 4); UNO 17 (Wetzel, Nelson 5). Turnovers: NDSU 5 (Dobmeier 2); UNO 11 (Graham 5). A-1,200.

Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at (701) 241-5546