Omaha
Central Missouri
Albers' Heroic Half-Court Shot Downs Central Misso
Jan 8, 2011 | General, Men's Basketball
Boxscore
Listen to game-winning bucket
WARRENSBURG, Mo. -- #Mitch Albers# hit a dramatic half-court shot at the buzzer, giving the UNO men's basketball team an 81-79 win over Central Missouri at UCM's Multipurpose Building on Saturday night. With the victory, the Mavericks have won five straight MIAA contests and are now 8-4 (5-3 MIAA), while the Mules drop to 8-6 (3-5 MIAA) on the year.
Albers, a junior guard, topped the Mavs offensively for the fifth consecutive game, finishing with a season-high 26 points on 9-for-16 shooting. He was 2-for-5 from 3-point range, including his game-winning shot at the end, as well as 6-for-7 from the free throw line.
Senior guard #Tyler Bullock# chipped in 16 points, five rebounds, a career-high-tying eight assists and two steals, while sophomore forward #Alex Welhouse# also finished in double figures with 14 points, highlighted by four 3-pointers, which matched his career best. Senior guard #Torrian Harris# led the way on the boards, pulling down six rebounds with two blocks and eight points.
"I thought we battled through adversity right down to the buzzer," Head Coach #Derrin Hansen# said. "We hung together as a team, which is good to see. We were obviously fortunate to get Mitch's last-second shot, but it was a very exciting game to the end."
As a team, Nebraska-Omaha shot 53 percent for the night after opening the first half with a 62 percent shooting performance from the floor.
UNO raced out to a 19-8 advantage, never allowing the home squad to go ahead in the first half. The Mavs led by as much as 14 points, though a 10-0 run capped by a layup from Boo Hunter with less than a minute to go narrowed the margin to three. Albers then hit two free throws to make it 47-42 by halftime. The Papillion, Neb., native had 13 first-half points and Bullock had 10, while Welhouse hit a perfect 3-for-3 from long range for nine points.
Harris opened up the second stanza with a quick basket, but the Mules took their first lead of the day, 56-55, at just under 15 minutes. Tyrone Young dropped in a three to put UCM up 65-58, and the home squad stayed in control of the game until the final minute.
Albers tied the game at 78-all with a layup at 1:06, but UCM's Reggie Stallings tied it up with a free throw after a Maverick foul with 0:01 remaining. Following a timeout, Albers got the ball with 0.8 seconds on the clock, dribbled once and threw up a shot from behind half-court, draining it and sealing the dramatic win for UNO, 81-79.
Central Missouri was led by Hunter's 21 points and nine rebounds. Three other Mules finished in double-figure scoring -- Bryce Brunz (15), Young (12) and Ryan Harris (11).
The Mavericks return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 12, hosting Southwest Baptist. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at Sapp Fieldhouse.
