7th straight Win Nets Tourney Title
Mar 6, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Ty Graham scored 19 points and Tola Dada added 17 and eight rebounds to lead the Mavericks to their seventh straight win, an 82-70 decision over South Dakota in the Wells Fargo Finals championship game Saturday night in front of 3,100 fans at Sapp Fieldhouse.
The Mavericks, the regular season North Central Conference champions, assured themselves of a berth in the NCAA II regional tournament March 13-16. The eight-team North Central regional field will be announced Sunday night at 9:45 p.m. CST.
UNO (22-7) never trailed in the championship game, surging to a 16-4 lead in the opening six minutes as Dada scored eight points and Andre Tarpley four. The lead grew to as many as 15 at 26-11 and UNO then took a 41-28 lead into the break as Graham sunk a three-pointer with two seconds left.
Graham, who sparked a Maverick rally with a late three-pointer in Friday's overtime semifinal win over North Dakota State, scored 14 of his points the second half.
The Mavericks built the margin to as many as 19 twice before the Coyotes (21-9) chipped away at the lead. Tommie King scored 12 of his game-high 20 points after halftime and Derek Paben 10 of his 13 as South Dakota brought the deficit into single digits.
King's jumper with 4:03 left sliced UNO's lead to 68-61, but Dada responded with a set-shot three-pointer from the top with 2:15 left to give UNO a 71-61 lead. From there on, the Mavericks protected their lead by making 11 straight free throws, including six by Graham.
Besides King's 20 and 13 by Paben, the Coyotes had Josh Mueller with 12 points before fouling out with 2:47 left, and Doug Hanson with 10. Steve Anderson led both teams with 11 rebounds.
Levy Jones added 14 points and seven rebounds and Randy Bland 11 points for UNO.
Graham was voted the tournament's Most Valuable Player. The rest of the all-tournament team included teammate Levy Jones; King and Hanson from USD; CoCo Cofield from North Dakota State and Andy Moeller from South Dakota State.
The Mavericks, the regular season North Central Conference champions, assured themselves of a berth in the NCAA II regional tournament March 13-16. The eight-team North Central regional field will be announced Sunday night at 9:45 p.m. CST.
UNO (22-7) never trailed in the championship game, surging to a 16-4 lead in the opening six minutes as Dada scored eight points and Andre Tarpley four. The lead grew to as many as 15 at 26-11 and UNO then took a 41-28 lead into the break as Graham sunk a three-pointer with two seconds left.
Graham, who sparked a Maverick rally with a late three-pointer in Friday's overtime semifinal win over North Dakota State, scored 14 of his points the second half.
The Mavericks built the margin to as many as 19 twice before the Coyotes (21-9) chipped away at the lead. Tommie King scored 12 of his game-high 20 points after halftime and Derek Paben 10 of his 13 as South Dakota brought the deficit into single digits.
King's jumper with 4:03 left sliced UNO's lead to 68-61, but Dada responded with a set-shot three-pointer from the top with 2:15 left to give UNO a 71-61 lead. From there on, the Mavericks protected their lead by making 11 straight free throws, including six by Graham.
Besides King's 20 and 13 by Paben, the Coyotes had Josh Mueller with 12 points before fouling out with 2:47 left, and Doug Hanson with 10. Steve Anderson led both teams with 11 rebounds.
Levy Jones added 14 points and seven rebounds and Randy Bland 11 points for UNO.
Graham was voted the tournament's Most Valuable Player. The rest of the all-tournament team included teammate Levy Jones; King and Hanson from USD; CoCo Cofield from North Dakota State and Andy Moeller from South Dakota State.
Players Mentioned
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